Re Birthday
by LeVampireCat
Summary: A fanfic based on the Story of Evil saga, told from Len's Kagamine's point of view as the Servant of Evil, exploring his life and death as his twin's servant. I don't own Vocaloid or the characters! Credit goes to Crypton Future Media. Written in May 2010
1. Chapter 1

Re_Birthday-Len Kagamine

Chapter One

Was I falling? There was no way to know for certain. My senses were all gone, I couldn't see, feel or hear a thing, I wasn't even breathing as far as I could tell, and except for this peculiar falling sensation there was nothing else. After a long while it began to feel relaxing, if there was nothing else then I would enjoy the only feeling I had left, falling. I was lulled into a sleep like state I will assume, because after an even longer while I lost whatever consciousness I had left, and succumbed to nothingness once more. Nothingness.

Was that some sort of beat I felt? Like the beginning of a song...My head throbbed painfully as I was drawn back to consciousness. The pain was unbearable; I lay still, not knowing what to do. With each throb the feeling worsened, making me wish for my previous state of sleep to take me once again. I lay attempting to resurrect the feeling of falling. Finally realising that I was in far too much pain to sleep I instead decided to sit up, or at least turn to lay on my back, as I felt I was on my side, making the pain throb more acutely in my right temple than my left. It occurred to me only now that I was regaining the power to feel my own body once again, I could feel my own limbs, though each limb felt numb.

Slowly, I pulled my right arm out from underneath my body, surprised to feel it wasn't more numb than any other part of my body, spreading my hand out flat on the surface beneath me, and forcing my arm to straighten in order to push myself into a sitting position. My arm trembled uncontrollably as I forced the weight of my body upon my weak hand. Finally I was able to pull my weak body into a sitting position; this helped the pain in my head greatly, and after what seemed to me a small while it had gone completely.

Now that my head was clear, I began to take in my surroundings, slowly becoming more and more receptive, and it occurred to me that I hadn't even opened my eyes yet, fearing that I would be blinded by whatever light was around me after keeping them closed for so long. I struggled to lift my heavy lids, and I began to become frustrated with this, only then I blinked. Realising that my eyes had been open, only it was too dark to see...was it too dark? I felt a wave of panic wash over me, was I blind? I also realised that in the hours I had been here, if not days, I hadn't heard a thing either. Had I become blind and deaf? I continued to blink, hoping this would only be temporary. As my fear gripped more fiercely at me, I opened my mouth to shout; only nothing came out. I tried again, and was now unsure as to whether I was deaf or mute.

I sat alone, shivering, not entirely certain whether I was cold or scared, or if I just wanted to know that I could still feel something. After hours of this I tilted my head back, longing for something to happen, when suddenly something caught my eye...my eyes! So I'm not blind after all, I thought to myself, at least that was one less problem. I had noticed a hole in what I assumed was the ceiling of this place...a room surely. As my eyes began to focus more acutely again, I realised that I was staring at a giant spring. _Why didn't I notice it before?_ I wondered to myself. I started up, feeling awe as I gazed upon the first thing I'd been able to see since I'd been here, anyone would've thought I was seeing for the first time..._wait was it the first time?_ I couldn't seem to remember.

A sudden sound startled me, momentarily drawing my attention away from the spring above. The sound what was it? A voice...yes a voice! I listened carefully, waiting for this mysterious voice to split through the silence again, a chill ran down my spine as it dawned on me that I recognised this voice, this voice that belonged to...who? I didn't know, yet somehow something inside of me told me that I had heard this voice before. Again the voice came, speaking clearly to me now.

"You sinful boy" it began in an accusing tone. As I stared I managed to make out the form of this person, long hair, possibly green? Still, I didn't recall who this frightening figure was, what did it mean sinful boy? Was I sinful?

"You are to be here for all of eternity" It pointed an accusing finger at me, making me wish to run away from it, but there was nowhere to run. _Eternity, what could I possibly have done that would make eternity alone my fitting punishment?_, I thought desperately, I couldn't recall anything before being here. I didn't have much time to think about this before the dreadful voice spoke again.

"You can never leave this room" It declared, still pointing straight at me.

What was I being punished for? I hadn't done anything, I'd been in this room for as long as I could remember...hadn't I? As I thought more about it, _I began to wonder how DID I get here? What had come before this?_ Surely I hadn't been in this room since I'd come into existence. Why _was_ I here? Why was it all I knew? I became frustrated; understanding now, remembering that something must have come before this room, I wouldn't have been born here...didn't I live before this? In a place where I could speak, hear and move properly? What had come before I started falling? Surely I had known other people...otherwise I wouldn't recognise this strange voice bringing me ill news.

I ran a hand through my blond hair...blond hair...suddenly something seemed to come to me, wasn't I forgetting something important? Was it important to...me? Important, inside I felt it must be important...what though? Something...important to me? Something important...something...no...Someone important. Someone who meant the world to me, inside I could feel my love for this person, someone...blond hair...they'd had blond hair like mine...that's what had triggered this odd emotion. Blond hair the same as mine...blonde hair, she'd had blonde hair...she wore hers down, unlike me, I wore mine in a ponytail, this was due mainly to convenience, it was less difficult to serve someone with your hair out of the way...I served her. Important. She was important, only someone important would have servants...a lady of high status, a Queen. She was the Queen, and I was her servant, but there was more, what was this she meant more to me than that, she wasn't just the Queen, oh she was much more than that to me...my...my sister, she was my sister, no, more...the other half of my soul, my twin.

With this information the rest of my memories began to flood back, consuming me, taking me back, I remembered it all as if I were reliving it once more...


	2. Chapter 2

Re_Birthday-Len Kagamine

Chapter Two

Back to my childhood first...yes I remembered. Both my twin and I learned at a young age that much was expected of us, being told that Church bells blessed us, at the time we didn't understand what that meant, nor did we really care. The two of us were content sitting under a large shaded tree, we'd play imaginary games, I'd make tiaras for her out of grass, twigs and flowers, she'd parade around wearing these gifts I made for her, oblivious to the irony symbolised in these poorly made tiaras, not realising she would really rise to the throne one day. When we were a little older we sat playing under our tree one day, when my dear twin was snatched away from me, no explanation, no apology, I cried out, tried to fight these people off, but I was held back, forced to watch my twin sister being dragged away crying for me. How could they possibly expect two children to know or even understand that she was being taught to become a Princess. We just thought they were being 'mean'.

As my sister was taught to rule over our country, I was taught to serve her, I didn't mind the idea, I loved her, there was no one else I'd rather devote my life to. My sister rose to the throne at a very young age, she was still a little girl, she didn't really know what she was doing despite being taught, she was left alone to decide things for herself. We were only children, while she ruled I served her, though some days I'd sneak her out of the confines of the castle dressed in my clothes, and we'd go into the small village.

Sometimes I'd take her down to the Sea shore, simply so she could get some air, she looked so pale and miserable, being stuck inside for so long was making her sick. It didn't only affect her appearance though, she'd throw tantrums, she'd scream, cry until she got what she wanted, she would fly into a rage over small things. I was the only one who could calm her down, I'd run into town and purchase whatever she wanted, just to see her smile again. Sometimes it wasn't something material she wanted, sometimes she'd get frustrated, being so young and having so much responsibility. Some of her servants called her spoilt, violent, even evil, this angered me, I knew she was none of those things, she was a lonely child, forced to do a job even an adult would find difficult, her only comfort her twin brother who was forced into serving her.

On one of the few days we had managed to escape to the sea shore, I watched her standing at the edge of the sand, letting the sea lap playfully at her bare feet. She'd taken off the hat I'd lent her so that the wind could blow it gently. She looked unhappy, this made me feel unhappy as well, I stared out at the sea sadly, when a glimmer of light caught my attention. I saw that the light had come from an empty glass bottle floating further out into the sea; I frowned, knowing some drunken fool had most likely dropped it last night, polluting the beauty of the ocean. A story suddenly came to mind, one I had read somewhere a long time ago, of messages in bottles granting wishes. I turned to my dear Rin and smiled broadly, she looked up noticing my sudden change of mood.

"What is it?" She asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"You'll see" I continued to grin, winking at her as I made my way out into the water, it was cold as I began to make my way further in, letting it rise above my ankles, rolling my pants up so I could wade further, I shivered a little as my sister commanded me to return at once, I ignored her for once, and kept going until I had reached the glass bottle. I retrieved it before making my way back to the shore, as I stepped back on to the dryer sand; I smiled, holding the bottle up as if showing her a prize worth a great fortune.

"All of that for a silly bottle?" She smiled a little at this, for once she didn't understand what I was thinking. I didn't mind, at least she was a little happier now. I shook the water from the bottle, drying it as much as I could.

" You know I read a story a long time ago in a book I can't recall, about putting messages in bottles" I began, shivering as I did, she blinked at me, silently telling me to continue.

"I read that if you write a wish on paper and you put it in a bottle, you drop it into the ocean and watch it fade away, if the bottle doesn't break-" I was interrupted. Something Rin didn't do a lot.

"-Then surely that is a wish that will be granted" She too was grinning now, she laughed her adorable little laugh, before gently slapping my arm. I was stunned. She didn't usually slap me.

"What is it? What's so funny?" I asked, feeling a little offended, I thought for sure she'd find my story magical, mesmerizing, yet I couldn't stay mad, I'd made her laugh at least, that's all that mattered.

"I am sorry, it is just I know that story as well, and I was thinking about it as you went to retrieve that bottle you now hold in your hands" She giggled, she was adorable when she laughed.

"Isn't it funny how we both think of the same things even when we aren't even speaking?" I laughed with her now. After this she looked up at me and smiled ever so sweetly before asking

"So shall we?" She looked her age now, laughing and smiling like a child should, not like the Queen she was forced to be.

"Shall we what?" I asked, now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow in confusion, she shoved me playfully, giggling again, it was nice to see her happy for the first time in weeks. There wasn't much for her to be happy about lately.

" Write our greatest wish on a piece of paper, and send it out to sea in that bottle of yours...that is why you went to get it is it not?" She asked, brushing her blonde hair away from her face, deciding that it had been more convenient tied up, she scraped it back into a messy ponytail the same as mine.

"Yes you're right that's why I have the bottle...all we need is some paper and something to write with" I looked around the deserted beach, not expecting to be so lucky as to find writing utensils as well.

"It is not a problem, we can simply purchase these items from a nearby shop" Rin smiled at me once again, seeing her mischievous grin, I realised by 'we' she meant me. I told her it wasn't a problem, and that she should wait for me while I found the necessary items.

I returned with the items we needed a short while later, seeing Rin was once again deep in thought, this time I decided to pry, as she'd seemed so happy only moments ago when I'd left. The sky had become and even brighter blue as the Sun shone brilliantly down on her blonde head, making her look as if she were glowing.

"May I ask what's bothering you my Lady" I knelt down next to her, watching her startled expression as she turned to look me in the eye, obviously she hadn't heard me approaching.  
>She looked down at the utensils I had purchased and smiled a soft smile at me before speaking.<p>

"I see you had no trouble finding our equipment?" I nodded; still she hadn't answered my question so I pressed her for more.

"Yes my Lady but please what's bothering you?" I asked again, aware that I didn't want to bother her so much that she became irritable.

"Well I was just wondering...what shall we write on the paper? What do we both wish for?" She paused before continuing, smiling another mischievous smile,"And I wish you would call me Rin, when we are alone there is no need for formalities I am your sister" she scolded me, frowning a little, a small pout gracing her pink lips. She looked like a little doll.

"My only wish is to be able to protect you Rin..." I blushed, it had sounded like I was sucking up after displeasing her. I quickly looked away to watch the gentle waves of the water again, spotting a few fish swimming around.

"Such a good brother but is that really your wish?" She asked tilting her head a little, when I nodded; she smiled again, and thought about what she wanted. She tilted her head to lean on my shoulder as she continued to think. Her head suddenly snapped back up, surely she had thought of something.

"Okay, I know, I want you to be there for me especially at that time when I may need you the most" She looked at me, completely sincere, not mocking my wish. So we wrote each of our wishes on a small slip of paper, though really they both had the same meaning. I noticed how elegant Rin's handwriting was compared to mine; I suspected this was something she had been taught at a young age.

I want to be able to protect my sister during that time when she needs me most  
>Len Kagamine<p>

I want my brother to be there for me at that time when I need him the most  
>Rin Kagamine<p>

We both signed our names, before sliding the tiny scroll of paper into the neck of the bottle. I replaced the cork as tightly as I could before the two of us released the bottle back into the water where it had been discovered in the first place. We stood next to one another; I held her hand in mine as we watched the bottle as it seemed to grow smaller, fading into the horizon. We continued to watch the calm shimmer of the water long after the bottle had disappeared; both of us hoping our wishes would come true. As the water stopped shimmering, and the Sun began to disappear, we decided it was time to leave, back to the castle of rules and regime.


	3. Chapter 3

Re_Birthday-Len Kagamine  
>Chapter Three- Servant of Evil<p>

Another memory came to me, though this time I was older, eleven twelve maybe, I wasn't entirely sure.

I awoke early that morning, and dressed quickly donning my usual attire, preparing to serve my beloved twin, and Princess. As I fastened the buttons of my yellow waistcoat I wondered what jobs she would have for me today, of course I didn't mind what she asked of me, I was happy to do anything for her.

I looked in the mirror at my pale face, how I looked like her now...Lately peculiar things had been happening to my twin, she'd been frustrated since we were children, this I knew, but now she had become cold, she had started to purchase more and more possessions, as if they could fill an empty place inside of her, a young woman was supposed to enjoy shopping, however this wasn't normal. She horded things, asked for duplicates of many furniture's she already owned, claiming she needed these possessions to feel better. I did admit she had become somewhat spoiled lately, but she was a Princess, I didn't see much of a problem with that, it was the way she was treating her people. She had increased taxes lately, for reasons she couldn't explain to me, she had been smiling a cruel smile I didn't recognise, it made me want to shake her and tell her to wake up, if she hadn't giggled and asked me for tea moments later I may have done so.

My next memory, I was a little older now as I walked through town in a dark cloak, attempting to stay inconspicuous, my beloved twin wanted me to find a man who hadn't been paying taxes, she wanted me to bring him back with me to confront her. I didn't know why, but I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Lately Rin had been putting the taxes up more and more, resulting in the people of our Kingdom not having enough money to pay, this of course angered the Princess, I continued to defend her, I mean, how was she supposed to know they gave up food to pay these taxes? A punishment had been created, I was sent in a black cloak, with a hood that covered my face, to retrieve the ones who couldn't, or wouldn't pay, I was to take them back to her, and she had them locked in a dungeon. She said that this made an 'example' to the rest of the people, if you didn't pay, you'd rot in jail.

I spotted my target; the first time I had done this I had been a nervous wreck, certain that someone would recognise me, but not wanting to disappoint my twin. I understood her point, she wanted the taxes to be paid, if they weren't a punishment was in order wasn't it? So bearing this in mind I had completed the deed. This time of course I was ready, used to this now, I waited until he was alone before approaching him, I bound his hands together forcing him to follow me, not allowing him to get a glimpse of my face, no one must know the Princess's twin was the one behind these abductions. The captive man said little, his head hung as I lead him down an unknown path back to the castle, it seemed that he had been expecting this for sometime now. A man of his age and size could easily overpower a young boy like myself, yet no one ever did try to escape ...when they heard my voice

"The Princess has sent for you" I'd whisper, binding their hands, their eyes seemed to lose colour and focus, they'd dull and await their Fate. I felt guilty, leading him down the vast halls leading to the Princess's throne room, part of me wanted to release the man, but when I reached my twin and saw her smiling sweetly at me once again, I remembered why I went along with these things. They made her happy, and I'd do anything to keep her happy.

"Thank you servant, you may kneel before me" She instructed me, and I did this without hesitation. She turned to the man I had captured and frowned.

"You know why you are here I presume" She asked coldly in a tone that didn't remind me of my twin. I didn't like the way she spoke to these people. The man nodded weakly, not looking up, a broken man awaiting his Fate. Rin gently played with a loose thread on her gown as she spoke.

"I know what you have been doing, you may not think I know but you will be surprised" She glared down at him, drilling him with her blue eyes, waiting for a reaction, when she didn't get one she continued.

"Clever how you did this, to begin with I simply assumed you were like one of the many others who cannot afford to pay the taxes, only you are a persistent one you haven't paid for weeks...a little bird tells me that you are trying to form a group that will bring me down?" These last few words she said bitterly, as if she were trying to rid herself of a nasty taste in her mouth. She was rigid now with anger, hands clasped into fists.

When Rin was this way she didn't seem like my sister anymore, I wished I knew what had happened to our childhood innocence, little did I know whatever childhood innocence we both had left was about to be ripped violently from us. Or at least from me.

"For your heinous crimes against your Princess, I sentence you to death" She stood now, seemingly towering over the two of us, I looked up from my kneeling position, and saw that the captive man had now lifted his head, and was staring at my twin in disbelief. I too looked up with disbelief, she was joking, and she must be.

"What...?" Was all he managed to whisper before she cut in.

"SILENCE" She yelled, looking more frightening than I'd ever seen her, she'd gone a little over the top lately, but death...she'd never sentenced anyone to death before. My stomach lurched as she turned to face me. Was this the reason I'd been feeling so peculiar all day? Had I subconsciously known what she was going to do?

"Loyal servant, you shall carry out his execution" she instructed me, producing a sword from behind her throne and holding it out for me to retrieve from her. I scurried toward her not believing what I had just heard; my sister would never ask such a thing of me. I hesitated before taking the handle, looking up at her, embarrassed to feel tears forming in the corners of my eyes. This wasn't the sort of thing my sweet sister usually asked of me.

"Rin I don't think I can..." I whispered weakly, uncertain now whether she was serious or not. She stared coldly down into my eyes, so like her own, suddenly her expression softened so that she was my sweet sister once again. The same girl I'd played with when we were children, and made tiaras for out of twigs and grass, the same girl who released our message in a bottle into the sea with me.

"Don't you remember that promise we made years ago when we were children? You promised to protect me in my time of need, well how do you know this isn't that time Len? They were plotting against me, and I must stop that" She looked hurt now, tears were shining in her own eyes, sliding down her cheeks, a pained expression on her young face. I felt my heart ache as I saw her sorrow, she was right, I had to make her wish come true, and for all I knew ending this man's life may save hers in the long run. I wiped my eyes and smiled confidently up at her, though of course I didn't feel this way, I took the sword from her hands, and watched her face light up with happiness once again.

"I'll do it..." I told her, inspecting the sword, I didn't know how to use a sword, I'd never been taught such things, but I'd attempt to use it if it would make my Princess smile. She watched me tentatively before giving me more instructions.

"I want you to take him into the forest and kill him there" She ordered, I wanted to ask so many questions, but I wasn't sure if they would offend her.

"My Lady...not that I doubt you however...don't you want to make an example of him? How will they know what has become of him if I dump him in the forest?" A question I needed to ask, after all, the reason she punished anyone at all was to make 'an example' of them, to make the people of her Kingdom fear her, for if she lost her throne she felt she'd lose everything.

"A reasonable question, of course I would not just kill him in front of our people! That would be wrong. I shall instead let them think for themselves, as each of his little group of haters disappears, after a while, they will think the worst, I see no need to spill blood needlessly Len, I am not evil" She explained, I worried about her, was she losing her mind? I shook my head, how could I think that way, she was being her normal caring self, of course she wanted to rid herself of these people who wished to overthrow her, she was frightened, yet she was still too kind to let her people witness this killing. I nodded, bowing low before her, yes I understood now; she was doing this for good reasons.

"Thank you my Lady..." I pulled the hood back over my head again, not that it made a difference if this man saw the similarity between the two of us; he was a dead man anyway. I turned to look at him, his mouth hung open in disbelief, his eyes wide with fear. His clothing was dirty from the work he did; I distracted myself, for I did not have the heart to look into his eyes filled with dread and terror as I lead him out of the throne room. I stared at the tiles on the floor as we walked back through the castle, the intricate patterns in the rugs.

We left the castle hastily, I led him down a beaten track that led into the forest, this path was uneven and I stumbled countless times. I could hear my prisoner whispering prayers behind me, I wanted so much to let him go to tell him to run away from this place the Princess never had to know, I could kill a deer and make her believe the blood on the sword was that of our prisoner. Then I remembered why she wanted him dead, as I manoeuvred around the closely packed trees, he wanted to overthrow my Princess. He wanted to create a group of people to overthrow her. Why would anyone want that? She'd done nothing wrong, sure she'd raised taxes but she was Princess, she knew what was best. My twin, what would I do if they'd succeeded, images of my twin lying dead in a ditch crossed my mind, a tear slipped silently down my cheek. I would never let that happen, I would protect her in any way I could. Once I had found an appropriate spot I stopped. I forced him to kneel down before me with his head hanging so that I could not see into his eyes, his fears, he probably had a family-I let go of these thoughts. No. No pity for those who wished to harm my sister.

Once again I remembered that I wasn't skilled at using a sword, so instead I used my instincts, and trembling, I gripped the handle with both hands, allowing all of my ill feelings for this man to grow within me, giving me the strength to commit this sin. I shut my eyes and drew in a deep breath before thrusting the sword into his stomach. I had hoped that this would kill him instantly, but what did I know about murder? Instead I listened to him let out an animal sort of sound, as blood began to slide down the sword; I pulled it out and repeated this action again, hoping this had done the trick. No, he still lived, bleeding to death, my head was beginning to spin, what was I doing? I saw black dots, I was ready to faint, another cry from my victim brought me back, no I had to finish this, I would not allow him to suffer more than necessary...was any of this necessary? I managed to regain control and holding myself together, I swiftly took the sword to the dying man's throat, and finally it was finished.

I watched repulsed as the blood seeped from his wounds. It trickled down the sword on to my hands. I lifted a shaking hand to wipe a splatter of blood from the side of my face. I gagged as I looked at it. Dropping the sword I ran away from this scene of massacre, and knelt retching, by a bush. I allowed myself to vomit; I held my stomach, trying not to look at my blood splattered cape. When I was finished I sat shaking, not knowing if I could face my sister like this, what had I done? As tears dripped down on to my lap. I thought of my sister's distressed expression, and I remembered why I'd done this. I'd do anything to protect you. I returned to the scene of my terrible crime and knelt to pick up the sword, though he wasn't long dead the stench from the body made me want to vomit again, without looking at him I moved slowly away, if I'd had the energy I would've run away, I was drained physically and emotionally, as I'd sat sobbing, I wanted to forget this whole ordeal, however I knew that I would be forced to do this again, after all Rin had said that there was a group of them...

When I finally arrived back at the castle, Rin was waiting for me at the back entrance, she smiled sympathetically at me. As I came closer to her she pried the sword from my bloodied hand and hid it under a loose board in the wall she had obviously prepared. She took my hand, and led me up a grand staircase into her room. Neither of us said a thing during this time. I stared out of the window at the gray sky, gray sky which resembled my feelings as she brushed a loose hair from my face and finally spoke in her sweet voice.

"I had the servants draw a bath, I knew you would need it when you returned...but may I ask one question before I let you relax?" She asked me gently. I nodded weakly, the motion making me feel ill again. Now she took both of my hands in her, not seeming to care that they were coated in blood and vomit.

"Did you do it...is he..?" She daren't say the word death, or dead. I stared at her, emotionless.

"Did I kill him you mean? Yes...I did" I replied in a barely audible whisper, I felt bitter, I loved her so much but what she'd made me do had hurt, now it was I who had lost my childhood innocence. She stood pulling the hood down, and kissed the top of my head.

"Thank you so much Len, for doing this for me, I know it must have been difficult" She smiled at me once again before turning to leave. I sighed; she always did know how to make me forgive her.

I washed the blood from my body and face; I was surprised how much of it there was, even in my hair. Yes the blood was gone, but I knew it was still there, I had ended a life...how could I ever look at my reflection in the mirror again? I did this anyway, remembering once again how much I looked like my twin. This was a comforting thought, I sighed, deciding to retire to bed early tonight, for I knew now as I saw her standing behind me, she was about to ask me to repeat what I had done today. I promised myself that this time I would be ready. If it was to protect my sister I would do anything. I'd even become evil.


	4. Chapter 4

Re_Birthday-Len Kagamine

Chapter Four

I was thrown into another memory, further in the future now...we were fourteen. Still so young, yet having done more than most people our age. Unfortunately things had not improved for the people of our Kingdom. I of course had been ordered to kill more people, and each time I did this I became a little more desensitized. Though if I let myself think about what I was doing I'd fall apart regardless. After the first time I received no more 'thank you's or sympathy, it was my duty now, and I pretended to Rin that I didn't mind. In a way I didn't, I'd do anything for her.

Rin had once again raised taxes so that the people of the Kingdom loathed her, though this was in secret, there was no way they would say anything against Princess Rin. They had to work twice as hard to earn the money they needed, many families were couldn't afford to eat, people were ill and died, and if anyone said anything against Princess Rin a mysterious boy in a cloak would come to end your life. Well this is what the people said anyway, and it was true, I killed many people, mostly men, though there was the occasional woman. I found this much more difficult. Especially if the woman resembled Rin in anyway, though men provided for their families, women were mothers, and this thought always gnawed away at me each time I was instructed to kill a woman.

Needless to say, things were not improving. Some days I would simply slump in a chair after an execution as if I were a corpse myself, I felt like one. Like an empty shell I would float around the town, collecting those whose fates were to be sealed. Rin didn't seem to notice, though I suppose I never really let her see my depression; I would always put on a smile for her. Some days it was easier than others, I would serve her afternoon tea as she ordered, smiling kindly at my queen, making idle conversation of what was on her menu for the day. It was like I was living a double life. I would leave the castle a ghost hidden in a cloak as it were, feeling either numb, bitter or resigned, depending on my mood, however when I was not out taking care of those who had displeased Rin, I was inside the castle waiting on her, the loyal brother and servant, cheerful and optimistic.

I suppose you could say I had become used to murdering people for Rin. Used to dragging them through the forest in handcuffs, seeing the same tracks in the mud and leaves below me, my footprints, and the footprints of those who had entered the forest with me, never to return. I was the only one who ever returned from this journey to hell and back. I was used to their frantic prayers as I we stumbled across the grass and roots of trees into the unknown. I was evil, I knew I was, but I refused to believe it, for who really wants to admit something like that? Is that what makes a person truly evil, admitting you're evil, as if it is something to be proud of? I'll never know. Despite being 'used' to killing, nothing could prepare me for what was to come.

I should've expected my evil actions to have a consequence. I think I did to begin with; I would kneel beside my bed at night and pray for forgiveness, I'd pray and pray until I was drenched with tears of regret and sorrow. As time went on I learned to forget about the innocent families of those I'd killed. I also learned later on that this was a grave mistake. I should've known that one day I would kill the wrong person...or wrong people.

I awoke as I would any other day. I sighed as I pulled the dark cloak over my head that would conceal my identity, and trudged to the throne room where Rin was waiting to give me my day's chores. I tried to distract myself by staring up at the vast ceiling with its many skilfully painted images and designs. At the walls around me, the busy wallpaper covered by large paintings of past royal families. I passed a particular painting, one of our parents, and felt a twinge of pain inside. What would they say if they saw me now, if they knew what I had done? Clearly this was not helping my mood, so I decided to pick up the pace and report to Rin.

I almost turned and walked away as I entered the throne room, advancing towards my sister. A look of absolute fury plastered across her beautiful face. I gulped, knowing I was soon to meet whoever had displeased my twin so much. I kneeled before her respectfully, greeting her in the same manner. She interrupted me, the anger she felt now evident also in her voice as well as her expression.

"They are so disrespectful!" She slammed her fist down against the arm rest of her throne, her voice shaking angrily. I was almost too fearful to ask.

"My lady?" I began nervously, not wanting to have this terrible anger directed at me "What have they done to you?" I questioned quietly, staring at my mud caked shoes, spotting dried on flakes of blood. This sight made me feel queasy.

"Thieves Len, we have thieves! Did you know this?" She questioned me, almost accusingly. Did she think I was hiding this knowledge from her? She should know better, I would never let anyone take advantage of her.

"Thieves? No my lady, I didn't know about this until this moment when you told me, what do you mean, we have thieves?" I questioned curious now, and eager for her to understand I had no knowledge of thieves.

"I mean someone has been stealing from my kitchens! Stealing MY food to feed the people! That is why they farm is it not? To feed themselves, to earn money for buying food? How dare they steal from me!" She cried, her voice becoming higher as she spoke with sheer anger.

"Who told you this?" I questioned, suspicious that someone had simply said this to irritate the Princess, who was so easy to agitate lately. Some people were so spiteful.

"One of servants from the kitchen, she informed me that she saw a man sneaking food from the pantry. Lots of it too. How she attempted to catch him, and how he escaped! It is good to know I have some loyal servant left at least! I suspect she is not the first to have witnessed this man, food as been disappearing for weeks now!" She was growing fiercer with each passing second. I felt a slight pang of jealousy; I was always the one who caught the ones who disobeyed our Princess. I was her most loyal servant. This was a childish and irrelevant thought, and I felt ashamed even as I felt it, so pushing this to the back of my mind, I proceeded to ask;

"So do you know who this man is?" A slight edge of bitterness to my voice as I once again thought  
>I'm her most loyal servant. However Rin didn't notice the sudden change in my tone, or didn't care for the time being, more concerned about this thief.<p>

"Yes, thankfully the girl knew him from the village." She smiled for the first time, a pleased smile of satisfaction, she had her man, and I was to take care of him, she told me his name, and I reflected, realising I knew his daughter, Meiko. I recalled she was older than us, perhaps eighteen or nineteen. I stopped, remembering it was not wise to think of my victim's family.

I smiled up at my twin, promising to stop him from stealing anything more from her before pulling the hood over my head, and walking back through the long halls and corridors into the old kitchen. A new kitchen had been built, Rin's request as she loved to spend the people's money. However this turned out to be a good thing, as it gave me a place to hide my weapon I was now able to wield. Rin had ordered her servants not to bother cleaning the old kitchen; she was fearful they would find my blood stained sword and decide to weld it against her. Another new thing of hers, she had all of the weapons of decoration removed from the castle, a sure sign of her guilt for having so many people killed, or perhaps she did know the people hated her, whichever she hadn't hesitated in having them all removed. Dust had gathered on the old work surfaces, the only neglected room in the vast castle, as she made sure all of the other rooms were cleaned, even if they hadn't been used in decades. I ran my hand through the dust, wiping it off on my cloak as I removed the sword from its hidden place, gripping it tightly as if I were being threatened.

The walk into the village was uninteresting, nothing but a straight path surrounded by tall trees, it almost seemed like they'd been planted to hide this path. I always took the beaten track when I was on this kind of errand, it was less conspicuous, and took less time, I could quite easily slip into the village unnoticed and wait for my victim to wander close enough for me to catch so to speak. However this was different, today's orders were very specific, I was to be seen today. Another one of Rin's ideas of 'making and example' of this man. I chewed anxiously on my bottom lip as I wandered into the village, off the hidden track out into the open. There weren't many people around, and it took a while for anyone to notice me, but as I walked further into the village where there were more workers people stopped as stared at me, muttering things about the boy who brought death. Yes they knew who I was. I stared awkwardly out the ground, inwardly praying no one would attempt to harm me, I could see why they would, I only brought them ill news. I could feel the gravel underneath my foot as if I wasn't wearing boots at all, like I could feel them glaring at me with pure hatred even though I couldn't see them.

As I neared my target's house I gripped the handle of my sword more tightly once again, feeling the patterns engraved into its handle. I'd never understand why you would want pattern on a weapon, just because it has beauty engraved into it, doesn't make the deeds committed with it any less ugly. I noticed little about my surroundings, only that the houses here seemed slightly more cared for than the dilapidated ones on the outskirts, perhaps of people who had died of starvation, or even at my own hands. I saw my victim standing outside of this house, he busy hauling some large sacks on to an old rickety cart, presumably filled with items he would sell to make a living. I kept walking, stopping outside of the small fence waiting for him to notice me. Judging by the way the fence looked it had been made by the man in front of me; the same could be said for the cart. I noticed the blue sky, how odd the sky should be so clear when I was to commit such a terrible sin against a man who I believed had only been trying to help feed his family, as well as others who were starving at this difficult time.

The man stopped lifting the heavy sacks, standing up and wiping sweat from his brow with his arm, only then did he notice me, it took him a moment to register who I was, and why I was obviously trying to get his attention. Realisation dawned on him, and he stared at me frowning. It was time to act like my twin, think as she did. I shut my eyes for a moment, allowing myself to feel anger toward him, he'd stolen from Rin, my Rin, he was plotting against her, trying to bring her down. My twin whom I had promised to protect forever, even if it involved becoming evil, she was my only family. She was all I needed. The man still stood completely still, possibly trying to decide what was best, to confront me or run. I wouldn't give him the option. I advanced toward him, at first he didn't move, didn't even flinch, then I raised my sword. I lifted it to his throat, pressing it against it, letting its sharp point create a small cut on his neck. I watched as a small trickle of blood slid down his neck. He raised his hands, fingers spread out in surrender.

"You will come with me" I ordered, I practically whispered this, hoping he hadn't noticed I was so young. I was surprised that none of my victims had attempted to attack me yet, I wasn't tall, or skilled at hiding the youth in my voice, it wasn't difficult to tell I was only a boy. However like all of the others his expression turned sombre all too suddenly, he nodded, not daring to speak now. Still wielding the sword in defence I walked around him and pointed the sword into his back, forcing him to walk into the centre of the village. People stood watching, a crowd had formed. I was scared now, there were so many of them, it was only a matter of time before I was attacked.

My heart pounded loudly in my ears. Needless to say I was terrified. I waited for a few moments, completely still just as my hostage was. I sighed, I was shaking with fear.

"Stealing from Princess Rin, is a crime punishable by death" I began, never having spoken to anyone I hadn't been murdering before, well at least not while donning my mysterious attire. I gulped before continuing. They were all silent.

"Treason against Princess Rin is a crime punishable by death" I continued, wanting to get to my final point and live to see my twin again. I didn't want to rush what I had to say, I wanted them all to know that Rin was their Princess, and that they must obey her, however fear was consuming me rapidly, I would have to hurry along.

"This man has committed both of these crimes, so now in return, I must take his life" I declared, lifting the sword now, ready to deal a deadly blow that would kill him quickly so that they would not have to watch him die slowly. There were women and children here, but still I thrust the sword toward him. I was certain I had him, however he did something completely unexpected, he moved swiftly away from me, grabbing a spear someone has thrown him, I had not noticed who.

"No, I won't let you take my life!" He cried, running at me with the sharpened spear, if that were to hit me in the right place it would be fatal. I panicked, my worst nightmare, he was fighting back, he was a man, I just a boy.

I darted out of the way, consumed with anger and fear; I used my small size to my advantage, as he ran toward me I ducked under his arm, forcing my elbow into his gut as hard as I possibly could. I'm going to die. That was all I could think. The man cried out in pain, apparently my attack had been effective. I was so surprised I hadn't noticed he'd regained his composure, and had his hand lifted high in the air. He brought his fist down HARD on the back of my head, completely taken aback, I screamed in pain, feeling pain ripple through my entire skull. The force was so much I fell to the ground, landing on my sword. I let out another scream of agony and my leg was caught was cut by the blade. I felt the warmth of my own blood seep through the fabric of my clothes. It was sickening. My head span, my head throbbed painfully. I could feel the cut in my leg throbbing intensely. I knew I had to get up or I was dead. I though of Rin she needed me. This gave me strength, I saw the man advancing toward me again, I didn't have time to stand and move, so instead I pulled the sword out from beneath me and held it in front of me defensively. Thankfully it worked, he was strong and pushed against my sword with his own weapon, the hood began to slip and he saw my face as I looked hatefully up at him. He looked genuinely shocked, and I suddenly realised that he wasn't pushing so forcefully against my sword now, I used all of my strength to pull myself up and shove him back away from me. Now I knew I had to finish it, he'd seen me. He whispered something inaudible, frankly I didn't care what he'd said, I attempted to run at him again, however slowed to somewhat of an amble against my will; however he had completely let his guard down now.

"Princess Rin?" He asked in disbelief, loud enough for others to hear, I could hear whispering amongst the people gathered around us. Now this I had not been expecting, I wouldn't let them think I was Rin, she was no murderer, I would not let them give her such a title.

"No!" I shouted, as ridiculous as it may sound I tried to make my voice sound deeper, more manly so they would know I was not Rin.

"No I'm not Rin!" I pulled the hood further over my face, thankfully no one else had seen. "I'm her servant" I said simply, feebly. Would they really believe that? Regaining my composure once again, I lurched toward the stunned man, using my good leg to slide beneath his legs and trip him up. It worked, and he fell to the ground, dropping his spear, I grabbed this and through it aside, hoping no one else would have the sense to pick it up.

"No you are Rin" He stared up at me defiantly. Consumed by rage I screamed, dropping my sword and beating him with my own hands and legs. I had never been overtaken by such a rage before, and I seemed to gain strength I would never normally have, my throbbing head and leg both stopped hurting as I swung my fists at his face again and again, filled with rage.

"I'M NOT RIN HOW DARE YOU CALL HER A MURDERER SHE'S INNOCENT I'M NOT RIN!" I screamed at him. If he answered me I didn't hear him. I didn't hear anything. I could feel his blood on my hands. Cold dry blood. Still I kept attacking him in hysterics. I finally tired myself out, and instead reached for the sword once again. I towered above him no as he kneeled on the floor, bruised and bleeding, he stared up at me, his expression showed pity. I didn't need his pity. He was as exhausted as I was from the assault, so now my composure regained I held the sword to his throat once more.

"I'm her twin" I whispered in a voice only audible to him. His eyes widened, hadn't he know she had a twin? I didn't care, I grinned down at him in a way I'd never done before, smug, proud for what I was doing. I finally delivered the fatal blow, and he was dead within minutes. I replaced the sword in the belt around my waist, not looking to anyone in the crowd I turned, and walked back the same way I'd come. As I limped away heard a young woman's voice screaming for her father. Meiko.


	5. Chapter 5

Re_Birthday-Len Kagamine  
>Chapter Five<p>

News travelled fast where we lived, and by the time I had managed to limp back to the castle Rin already knew what had taken place in the village. Tears were drying against my cheek as I stumbled through the kitchen door toward Rin. She took the blood splattered sword from me without a single word and replaced it in its hiding place. She turned to glare at me, but seeing the tear tracks running down my face understood I had already punished myself. I was not proud of what I did, though at the time I had been, I was ashamed of myself for acting in such a way. I promised myself there and then that I would never be proud of hurting someone again. Ever. Without saying a word, Rin took my hand, and led me away from the kitchen, noticing I was limping she finally spoke.

"What happened to you Len" She asked this gently, not in a patronising tone. I sighed, still feeling shame; I looked up at her concerned face.

"He fought back...he hit me and...I fell on my sword" I told her, feeling my cheeks grow hot with embarrassment, what sort of assassin falls on his own sword? Still, Rin didn't laugh, and instead frowned in concern. She kneeled next to me to see the wound for herself. She pulled a face, telling me she thought it looked bad. She told me I needed to clean it, before leading me through her bedroom into her bathroom. I sat wearily on a stool as she instructed as she knelt again next to my leg, inspecting the wound more thoroughly now.

"You will need to remove those" she told me matter of factly, referring to my pants. I blushed doing as she instructed somewhat hesitantly, she laughed at my embarrassment, reminding me that we were identical twins.

"Not identical enough" I muttered "In case you didn't notice I'm a man and you're a woman" I blushed again as she shrugged this fact off, cleaning the wound on my leg gently, trying not to hurt me. I appreciated this.

"Well I think we are identical enough, I hear our little thief thought so too" She reminded me as she wrapped a bandage around my leg, pulling it tight to restrict the blood flow. I winced a little as she did this, not sure if it was from pain or from the memory of my irrational behaviour. Yet another thing to make me blush, the shame. Rin finished bandaging my leg and looked up at me. She wiped a tear away from my cheek.

"You have to stop blushing Len or your face may stay red forever" She smiled kindly, I laughed a little at this. My Rin. This was the girl I knew, the one I fought for, protected and the one I would die for if I had to. If only the people knew her the way I did. I pulled her into an embrace, she didn't complain, and wrapped her thin arms around my neck. She whispered that everything would be okay, I clung tighter to her, letting myself cry. I could feel her eyelashes tickling my neck as she blinked, holding me close as I held her.

After a long while Rin let go of me, I tried to pull her back as I felt her arms slipping away from mine. I wanted to hold her, to smell her soft hair again, feel it in my hands, never let go. Never leave this place again. However, she stood in front of me and looked sympathetically into my eyes. She made an attempt to tidy my hair up a little; it had fallen out of its usual ponytail, making me look more like Rin than normal. She brushed her hand through it, carefully pulling it up again, tying it for me. A simple yet meaningful gesture.

"Len I hope you will not take this the wrong way but...you look exhausted, I think you should get some sleep" She smiled again at me once more.

"I still have more work to do Rin its fine I feel a lot better now" I began; I didn't want to disappoint her. That was the last thing I wanted to do. She held a hand up to silence me. I was quiet and awaited her response.

"It is fine, that was my main errand for you today, and you completed it, you hurt yourself doing it for me. Now I want you to go to bed I want you to get some rest. If you really want to get back to work tomorrow I shall arrange for you to do something a little more...light, something I've been putting off for a while as it is not urgent" She told me, feeling the full force of my exhaustion now, I nodded weakly, gratefully accepting this break she was giving me. She told me to wait there, as if I had any intention of moving. I must've been dozing for when I opened my eyes again Rin was standing in front of me holding some clean clothes for me to change into. I took them from her, I changed automatically, not caring if she was watching (which I don't think she was), as I worked on what I can only describe as autopilot. When I was dressed she took my hand once more, and led me to her bed, though at the time it didn't occur to me whose' bed it was. I fell wearily down on to the bed, shutting my eyes, listening to Rin sing an old lullaby to me.


	6. Chapter 6

It's funny. Those days when something life changing happens there can be two extremes. You will either find yourself living in anxiety until said event occurs, and finally understand why as I had the first day I was ordered to kill a man, or you will have no idea at all, and it will either come as a pleasant or unpleasant surprise, depending on the scenario or situation.

I awoke the following morning feeling low as I remembered the events that had occurred the day before. I blinked a few times before noticing Rin sleeping next to me. I frowned, why was Rin in my bed. I was slow this morning, and it took me a while to register that I was in Rin's bed, not the other way round. She sighed in her sleep, moving a little so she felt more comfortable. I smiled; she even looked cute when she was asleep. As if sensing I was watching her she too slowly lifted her eyelids, her eyes seemed clouded over as she stared at me, however after blinking this off she stared at me expressionless before allowing a small smile to grace her lips. She looked as weary as I felt. She must've stayed awake to make sure I was alright and fallen asleep. A gesture that touched me, so I smiled warmly back at her.

"Well it is odd for you to be awake before me, I do hope the servants did not see us sharing the same bed" She laughed gently, sitting up and stretching her arms, letting a little yawn escape from her lips. She arose and stepped into her walk-in-wardrobe its large yellow doors always flung wide open, I wasn't entirely sure whether it was because she was too lazy to close them or because she feared the doors closing and locking her in. When we were younger she hadn't been particularly fond of small spaces, so I assumed it was the latter. I sat up on the spacious four poster bed and imagined Rin waking up alone in this bed everyday, I felt a little sorry for her, everything must have been so lonely each morning, one girl alone in a giant bed in an even more enormous room.

Everything in Rin's room was yellow and black, two colors she loved the most. I suppose this is why we were the yellow Kingdom; really just as well she liked yellow so much. Her bed covers were yellow satin with a complex pattern sewn into them in black thread. Her pillows had the same design. The curtains surrounding her bed were, of course, also yellow, they also had the same pattern as the bed, these were changed to match the design of the bed covers when the bed was changed as well. The long drapes which hung before her windows were striped, naturally they were black and yellow, even our servant wear consisted of these two colors.

Rin emerged from her wardrobe, the gown she had been wearing only moments ago draped over her arm. She now wore a new one with a black corset design on the front. The dark yellow fabric of her skirt flowed gracefully to the floor, trailing a little as she walked toward me.

"I shall be waiting for you in the throne room Len, I have thought of your tasks for today, and you should not worry as it does not involve 'taking care' of someone for me today, I also suggest you wear something a little more casual today." She smiled sweetly down at me as if this was a favour, I suppose it was, she didn't have to stop giving me assassin assignments, but she was kind enough to do so, and seemed to understand how I was feeling.

"I suggest you dress promptly and meet me in the throne room in half an hour" She instructed me. Yes, she was still the Princess even if she was going easy on me as it were. So I did as I was told, getting up, feeling faint as I stood, I closed my eyes and let the spinning in my head cease before opening my eyes again, I left the room with her, taking the rout to my own room as she slipped through another corridor leading to the throne room. I felt a dull irritating ache in my leg as I pulled clean clothes on, the bandage Rin had tied for me was still secured tightly, I decided I'd change it when I got back, remembering what Rin had said, I had found something 'casual' to wear, and now I wondered down to the throne room, hoping I wasn't late. I entered the throne room, still feeling a little nervous, after all at least I usually knew what to expect, today I had no idea. Rin sat upon the throne, she had rested her chin upon her hand, and looked as if she were daydreaming, I hoped I hadn't kept her waiting too long.

"Your Highness" I said simply, wincing as I knelt before her, the pain in my leg stabbing me now. She beckoned me to stand; my pain must have been evident from my expression. I stood, groaning unintentionally as the pain worsened, I gritted my teeth together to stop another involuntary outburst. Rin looked down at me sympathetically before speaking.

"Today I want you to venture out to the Green Kingdom for me, I have some items I need you to pick up for me there, I also need you to have some things delivered here as they are far too large for you to carry home" She told me, taking a small scroll of paper from the arm rest of her throne, unrolling it, I watched as her eyes passed over it, I assumed she was checking she had not neglected to add any important items to the list. She also had a small bag which she lifted and placed on to her lap, I heard the clinking of money inside as she moved it.

"I am aware that your leg is troubling you rather a lot today, so you may take Josephine if you so wish, you will also have an easier time carrying these items for me" She signalled for me to come forward and take the scroll and bag of money from her. I did so smiling gratefully at her for offering to let me borrow her horse. I placed these items in one of my pockets before bowing low before her, feeling the twinge of pain in my leg once more, not as acutely this time and ignored it.

"Thank you" I responded pleasantly, really very grateful for her kindness.

"Take as long as you need, just be back before it gets dark" She ordered me, waving a hand to dismiss me. So I thanked her once more and exited. It was a pleasant change to simply leave the castle normally instead of having to sneak through corridors concealing my identity, hiding a weapon I had no desire to use. I walked casually into the stables where Josephine was kept, I crunched through the hay on the ground, greeting the horse by stroking her face, she seemed to enjoy this and neighed at me as I told her what we were to do today. I opened the gate to her stable, preparing her for the journey to the Kingdom of Green, attaching a saddle to her back, and some bags as well for carrying the items I would purchase. When she was ready, I hoisted myself up on to her back, finding my balance before taking hold of the reigns and guiding her out of the stable slowly.

We had picked up the pace as we were further away from the castle, Josephine galloped across the dusty road, and I took in the surroundings. The trees between the two kingdoms were lush and bright; some grew fruit such as apples, though no one seemed to pick them. I decided to feed some to Josephine on the way back as a reward for behaving. The dust from the ground was making the white horse's legs turn somewhat of a gray color, I would need to wash her when we returned as well. The weather was beautiful once again as it had been yesterday as well, I should've felt happy, relieved, however I didn't. I still felt terrible about the events which had taken place the day before, and deep inside of me there was a dull ache, much worse than the pain in my head or my injured leg. I had bruises on my body from where I'd fell also, however nothing compared to the terrible guilt I felt. I wondered if I would ever feel good again.

The kingdom of Green was but half an hour away, the trip to the kingdom of blue took around an hour give or take, so I was thankful I only had to stop at the nearer kingdom. When we finally reached the Kingdom I jumped down from Josephine's back, landing hard on both of my feet, I had momentarily forgotten my injured leg and felt the pain shoot through it again. I grimaced at the pain, clinging tightly to the horse's reigns as my leg throbbed. When this had stopped I tied Josephine to a fence near a tree so she had some shade and promised I would return as soon as I could, stroking her soft white face once more before walking away, list and money in hand.

My trip was taking longer than anticipated, and I'd been there half an hour simply going into places telling them to deliver furniture's to Princess Rin as soon as they possibly good, showing them the Princess's crest so they knew I was genuine and not a thief. I decided to take a brief break as my leg was beginning to trouble me once more. So I stopped leaning against a wall, I unrolled the list Rin had handed me once more to see what I would need to purchase next. I pressed the foot of my good leg up against the wall leaning casually, looking around at all of the people happily wandering around the village. The Kingdom of Green was beautiful. The trees were all green naturally, and a soft breeze lazily teased the leaves of the trees. The whole place seemed peaceful, no one rushed around, they took their time, everyone seemed so happy. I smiled remembering how the Yellow Kingdom had once been this way, my smile faded as I also remembered the state of the kingdom now. I sighed, my stomach growled at me as I caught the scent of bread baking somewhere near me. I wondered if there was enough money here for me to purchase some food as well as all of the items I still needed to buy for Rin.

I had just finished counting the money I had left when I looked up to see the most spectacular sight I would ever lay my eyes upon. I felt my jaw drop as I stared at her, this girl with the most lovely long green hair tied up in two pigtails. She glided gracefully along, I watched as if the moment were in slow motion. She was alone, her long green dress complimenting her slim figure as she walked. In her slender arms she held a bouquet of freshly picked flowers, as lovely as they were they were nothing in comparison to the beauty holding them. I realised my breath was caught, and suddenly coughed as my lungs begged for air; I had been so mesmerized I had forgotten to breath. When I regained my poise once more, I looked back up to see if the girl was still there, and felt my cheeks burn, she was staring at me. I must've caught her attention with my choking. She was also blushing as she moved gracefully toward me, her green hair floating behind her as she walked; she truly was a vision of beauty. She walked as if being drawn by an invisible force toward me; her green eyes were glazed as if she were seeing a ghost. No she mustn't come near me, I looked terrible, I had only yesterday been in a fight for my life, I had not slept well, nightmares of murderous thoughts had plagued my sleep, I had dark circles beneath my blue eyes, I must look repulsive, I lifted a hand to my face as if to cover one of the bruises. My heart pounded furiously as she drew ever closer, she moved slowly in her trance like state, I couldn't breath, and I trembled uncontrollably. What on Earth was this feeling? I wanted to run, hide my face from her; such a lovely vision must not lay eyes upon something to evil, so unclean. Still I couldn't move, my legs shook the same as the rest of my body and refused to co-operate. Now she stood right in front of me, she reached out, she touched my hand, a buzz of feeling rushed up my arm, filling my entire body. Wasn't this what they said love felt like? She gently moved my hand away from my face and gazed up at me, straight into my eye, as if she could see into my soul, oh God, I tried desperately to hide the evil I had committed from her, she mustn't find out! She all too suddenly snapped out of her daze, and smiled the most captivating smile at me.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you" Such a breathtaking voice she had. She was lovely. I wanted her, my soul ached, this time not with guilt, but with a longing I'd never experienced before. I attempted to speak, but nothing came out. She giggled, she was still blushing. When I finally managed to speak again we stood chatting for a little while, and as each second passed I desperately prayed for it not to end. I felt a deep connection to this girl, love at first sight? I'd never believed such a thing, now I was uncertain. I felt as if I were floating as she spoke to me, I'd never felt this good before, ever. Now a man emerged from a nearby shop, he walked towards us and spoke to the beautiful young girl.

"Miku I have finished my errand sorry to keep you waiting so long" He smiled a loving smile at her, I disliked this man immediately. He flipped his blue hair away from his eyes and turned to stare at me with something that looked a little like disgust, but also suspicion. Why did I recognise him?

"Who is this Miku?" The blue man asked, a slight bitterness to his voice as he asked, he took her arm as if to tell me she was his. I felt anger boiling inside of me. I hated this man. Miku's smile changed, it seemed false, though that was probably just wishful thinking. 

"This is Len, I met him just now, he lives in the Yellow Kingdom and works for the Princess there" Miku told him, why on Earth was she telling him all of this? Why did he need to know where I lived? I had told her in hope that I could meet her again.

"Oh you work for Princess Rin?" He sounded surprised, then noticed my yellow attire and his look of shock vanished. I didn't like how he had said Rin's name, as if it were poison.

"Yes and who are you?" I spat back, a little more angrily than intended, he laughed, making me even more furious before answering me. I didn't like this man one bit, he was too old for Miku who it turned out was only two years older than me, he looked at least twenty. He stared me down with his dark blue eyes.

"I am the Prince of the Blue Kingdom" He told me, smiling smugly. Ah so that was why I recognised him, he'd visited Rin before. I suddenly felt a sense of hopelessness, how could I compete with this man? He was a handsome king, he had lustrous blue hair, and stood at what I guessed to be six foot, and here I was, small with dishevelled blond hair, a servant to my own sister.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't recognise you" I bowed, feeling miserable now, I had met the most beautiful girl who seemed to like me back, and she was with a King. I should've known after all, she deserved a Prince, she was so lovely, not a servant boy. He told me it was fine but that he had to get going, and putting his arm around Miku's shoulder he guided her away from me, she bid me farewell, and I watched as they walked away into a crowd of people. She kept turning back to stare at me as they went, and because of this I felt hope. Maybe she felt the same way, I didn't have much to offer, but if she felt the same way, maybe I still had a chance, so full of optimism; I finished the shopping in a daze and rode back to the castle, daydreaming of Miku, my beautiful Miku.


	7. Chapter 7

When I returned to the castle I was in a daze, I felt high on this feeling most would call love. I'd never been in love before, so this was an entirely new feeling. I wandered around tending to my chores, I washed Josephine, delivered all of Rin's items to her, and did countless other jobs that day without even thinking it seemed. When I finally seemed to be focusing again I was stunned to see that it was already time for bed. I went to say goodnight to Rin, she was busy brushing her hair with a golden hairbrush when I entered the room. It looked glossy in the light of the candles as she continued to pull the brush through it. I stood by the door waiting for her to finish, she stared at me curiously as she continued to brush, I wanted to ask her why she was staring at me in such, but though it may seem rude, so I waited.

"You seem to be in a surprisingly good mood today, I mean considering yesterdays events" She was still staring up at me as she said this; it caught me off guard, had my good mood really been so obvious? Even if it was I didn't think it was a bad thing, pouting a little I decided to answer her.

"Well I decided that it was okay, I did what was right so..." I trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence. "It's not a crime to be happy" I retorted, feeling irritated by her remark. She looked a little stunned at my rudeness but shrugged it off; she stood up, walking to her dressing table and placing the brush down gently on its golden surface.

"Well I was not trying to offend you, I just noticed you have been grinning like an idiot since you returned from the Green Kingdom" She remarked, flipping her hair back, and standing with her hands on her hips. How innocent she looked in her long white night gown.

"Care to tell me what happened while you were there?" She questioned me, I blushed, I didn't want to tell her about meeting Miku, and how I had all too quickly developed feelings for her. So I turned away and mumbled something about the weather being too nice to feel upset. Of course being my twin she knew I was lying and didn't buy it. She moved uncomfortably close to me, circling me, wearing me down with her eyes.

"Oh, well to me it seems like you are...in love" She grinned knowingly at me as I turned away babbling, denying it. She put a hand over my mouth to silence me, she giggled, childishly. She shut the door and stood in front of it.

"I refuse to let you leave until you tell me who she is!" She smiled mocking an evil grin, funny how she mocked evil now when she usually had no trouble making her smiles all too spine chilling. I sighed deciding I would be able to get to bed more quickly if I just confessed, so I sat on the edge of her bed, and beckoned her to come and sit beside me. She sauntered over, smoothing her gown down over her legs as she sat. She looked up at me expectantly, I looked away, my cheeks still burning red and began to tell her about Miku, I told her how we'd met, and how I'd felt, and how I'd felt such a peculiar feeling when she'd touched my hand. She listened silently as I told her this, deciding to leave out her name, and the part where King Kaito came and ruined the moment. She blushed as I turned back to look at her, why on Earth was she blushing, I'm the one who had just spilled my deepest secret to her.

"Oh" She finally spoke; her voice seemed a little icy. "So I suppose you will be seeing her more often now" She continued, her voice shaking a little, I tilted my head in confusion, what could be wrong?

"Well I never said that...I don't even know where she lives, or what her name is..."I trailed off, lying about her name, of course I knew her name, I'd been thinking about her all day. Miku Hatsune. She turned to look away from me, she was trembling.

"Well I suppose once you two get together you will be leaving me to marry her, so I will need to find a replacement" She sounded as if she was about to cry. Ah so that's what was bothering her. I pulled her to me and hugged her tightly. She was still trembling; she let a few small sobs out as I held her. I hadn't meant to upset her.

"Rin, even if I were to marry her, which is highly unlikely, I would continue to live here and serve you, you're my twin, and nothing will change that, I'll never leave you" I reassured her, stroking her fluffy blonde hair. She looked up at me, her blue eyes shimmering with tears, tears silently slid down her porcelain cheeks.

"But you...you've fallen in love" Her voice broke as she said this, she sobbed desperately, burying her head into my chest, I could feel her tears through my shirt, against my skin. I continued to stroke her hair and whisper gently to her, anything to calm her down.

"Look Rin it doesn't matter if I'm in love...which I don't think I am, I will NEVER leave you...besides, she has someone already...she told me" I said this bitterly envying Kaito. Once again she raised her head to look into my eyes; she blinked tears away, clearing her throat a little so she could speak to me.

"Really?...well I bet he is not as great as you, she must be an idiot if she chooses him over you" She smiled weakly at me, forcing a laugh. I laughed as well, oh if only she knew who my competition really was. She moved closer to me sighing. She looked deep in thought, and seemed to be wrestling with her conscience before she spoke again.

"I'm in love as well" She told me suddenly. I looked down at her in disbelief, who could she possibly in love with, she never saw anyone but me...my eyes widened at this thought...was she in love with me? I blushed, what would I say if she said this? I loved her, but only as my sister, not as anything more. I cleared my throat nervously as she had done before, and prepared myself for the worst.

"Oh...who's the lucky man?" I questioned, my voice cracked as I asked this, I coughed nervously as she moved closer giggling. No I can't do this! I stood up moving away from her, sweating nervously. She blinked at me in confusion. She gave me a look that told me she thought I was crazy, but continued to speak regardless.

"He is a Prince, the Prince of the Blue Kingdom, Prince Kaito" She told me, clasping her hands together and holding them to her heart, she giggled sighing at his name. I felt relieved but furious that the same time, Rin deserved better! She sat curling a lock of her hair, staring off into the distance, obviously infatuated with the blue Prince.

"Oh I didn't know you knew him so well" I commented, waving a hand as if to dismiss him from the conversation, Rin didn't take the hint and continued to talk about the man I hated so much.

"Oh yes, he has been here many times, usually when you are out on errand actually so that is probably why you never see him, yes he is handsome, I wish I knew if he felt the same way" She sighed again, her voice seemed to be higher whenever she spoke about Kaito. It wondered how I sounded when I spoke about Miku...had I really been grinning like an idiot all day? I shook my head and decided I'd just go to bed, maybe I'd dream of her, my angel. So I said goodnight to my beloved twin and retired to bed.

The next few weeks were the happiest of my life, Rin would often give me jobs to do in the Green Kingdom, and I would often run into Miku, or if not I would spot her walking with Kaito. I didn't mind I suppose, she was happy, and I still believed that I had a chance even if it was a miniscule one. I found Rin acting the same way as me, wondering around as if in a trance, love had taken over both of us it seemed; still I didn't have the heart to tell her Kaito had a lover already, because I believed that any day now Miku would leave him for me...

I returned from the Green Kingdom one day, from seeing Miku, she'd told me Kaito had been in the Yellow Kingdom today visiting Rin...maybe he really did like my sister. I hoped so, I would hate for her to have her heart broken, little did I know we would both be heartbroken very soon. I had just finished washing Josephine, and was venturing back into the castle when I heard sobbing coming from one of the rooms. At first I assumed it was one of the other servants, I followed the sobbing sounds and searched for the source, shocked to find my sister curled up on a red velvet chair in one of the rooms. She was picking away at it with her yellow fingernails. Astonished I ran towards her, I held her in my arms as I had done so many times, asking her what was wrong. I'd never seen her so miserable before, she clung to my back as loud sobs shook her small body. We sat there for a long time, I tried my best to calm her but it seemed useless. When she finally did calm down enough for her sobs to turn to small hiccoughs, she managed to choke out the whole story.

"I...I asked Kaito if he...if he loved me today...if he would be with me" She let out another sob at this before continuing. I could tell immediately that his answer had been no. How I hated him for making Rin hurt so badly.

"He said no Len...he laughed at me!...He said he would never...never love a spoilt evil little girl...like me!" She broke again, hiding on my chest again, as I sang gently to her, the only thing that seemed to help at the moment. As her disheartening sobs finally subsided she moved herself away from me, deciding to carry on, her face turned to stone now as she finished.

"He said he already had a lover, a girl named Miku from the green kingdom" She spat venomously, gritting her teeth as she hit the chair with her fist. It didn't seem to hurt her, even with the force she hit the chair, I heard a crack, I wasn't sure whether it had come front Rin's knuckle or the now battered chair. I began to panic, what if she figured out that Miku was the girl I was in love with?

"Oh" I managed to answer weakly. For what could I say? She'd find out I was a liar if I said anymore. I fidgeted nervously in my seat, wondering if she already knew. So I gulped awkwardly and waited for her to continue.

"I have sent our soldiers to the Green Kingdom to destroy it, I have ordered them to capture this girl and bring her to me" She declared, I felt my heart sink. She would capture Miku. What would become of my beloved Miku? Her home destroyed! I blinked back tears, I couldn't let Rin see me cry, she'd know! She looked at me coldly, noticing the look of fear upon my face. She knew! She had to know!

"Ah...your lover she lives in the Kingdom of Green...I am sorry Len, but it must be done" She turned away from me as she said this, unable to watch my reaction. I was horrified, why the sudden lack of compassion? I'd been with her all of our lives and she didn't even care if my lover was brutally murdered...Then it dawned on me, my lover hadn't been brutally murdered, she was being captured and brought back to Rin...I trembled, what on Earth would I do when they brought Miku here? What if she called for me to help her, not only would that be agonizing for me to have to endure, but Rin would know for certain then that Miku was my heart's desire.

"It is for the best" She said simply now, disguising any misery she still felt from her voice. It was monotonous, cold, unfeeling. She walked away from me swiftly leaving me alone in the room. My vision was blurred with tears, Miku would never love me now, she wouldn't even look at me after she knew I was Rin's twin. I imagined the scenario, Miku being dragged in covered in bruises and cuts, she'd look up at Rin, spotting me, she'd glare at me with her mesmerising eyes and scream at me;

"YOU TRAITOR! I thought you cared!" and her green eyes would fill with hatred, and Rin would ask me how I knew her, I'd have to confess and...

I couldn't bear that thought. I hid my face in my cupped hands, it was all I could do not to scream, cry, sprint after Rin and beg her to end the assault. These were all ridiculous thoughts, I knew it was too late by now, the Kingdom would be in ruins, and the soldiers would be dragging Miku back to this prison now. Part of me was relieved to know she wouldn't die in such a way, though secretly I knew that she would be tortured, her fate would be much worse than that of the other people in the Green Kingdom.

I was jolted out of my thoughts by the unpleasant sound of galloping horses, not one, not two, but an army of them. I reluctantly peered out of the window; I prayed it had been my ears deceiving me; however I was let down when I witnessed the soldiers riding toward us on their horses. I scanned the gaggle of men for my green haired angel but was unable to catch a glimpse of her. I sighed discouraged I moved away from the window, when a sudden thought struck me. What if they hadn't found her? What if they'd mistaken her for someone else and murdered her like everyone else? I felt horror and fear building up inside me.

"NO!" I let out an unintentional cry of fear. I just couldn't lose Miku. I refused to let it happen. However the soldiers were moving closer and I didn't have time to find Miku, so instead I decided to try and conceal my identity from her when she did arrive. I dashed from the room, where had I left my cloak? I darted into my room; I rummaged through drawers and my closet. Not finding it anywhere in there a wave of panic and frustration gripped me. I sprinted into the old kitchen, searching abandoned cupboards and hooks. I was relieved when I spotted it crumpled in a heap upon the stone floor; I knelt to retrieve it, pulling it over my head hastily, I sighed, guilty, why had it come to this?

Not five minutes later I was summoned by Rin, to her side where I would forever be. I moved swiftly into the throne room, just wanting this whole experience to be over soon. I mounted the steps leading up to Rin's throne, reluctantly standing next to her as she sat. She glanced up at me, puzzled by my sudden need to hide who I was. I hoped she wouldn't question me for once, and thought she wouldn't as she looked away, silently staring straight forward awaiting the arrival of her new found rival. I began to relax a little, with her looking away from me I felt less tense, I was free to think over how I would react when Miku was dragged in here. Rin's voice cut through the silence, making me jolt out of my thoughts, I grimaced at her question.

"Why are you wearing your disguise?" she began, "The soldiers know who you are" She finished coldly. I could tell she was ready to rip Miku apart, and not only with her words. I found myself shaking; I knew what she was going to ask of me, she'd ask me to kill her. I clasped my hands together tightly, I couldn't tell Rin the truth, but my conscience begged me to release my secret. I wouldn't do it, I wouldn't. My wrestled painfully with my conscience, if I were to confess would it save Miku's life? Or would Rin simply kill us both. Her brother the traitor, she'd be alone forever...I decided against confession. What if I were to simply stand up for Miku? Rin didn't have to know I loved her. Perhaps I could reason with her, I'd never really attempted to, so perhaps it could work.

"LEN!" Rin's infuriated tone put an end to my planning. She too was shaking; however it was not for the same reasons as me. She was furious, that much was clear. Perhaps all of my plans would fail, I'd never seen her so resentful before.

"W..well I don't want this girl to tell everyone our secret when she is let go" A vain attempt to look into Rin's dark and jealous mind, perhaps I could trick her into giving me information, would we let her go, or would I be forced into murder once more? I wasn't sure if I could face death again after so many weeks floating on the clouds of love, to come crashing down into a world of death and loneliness. I shuddered. Rin stared at me, her expression was unreadable, even if she was my twin I still had no idea what she was thinking right now. She seemed to be processing what I had just said, coming up with a suitable answer. She was taking too long to answer, that was never a good sign.

"I see" She responded. I sighed with frustration; she hadn't even given me a hint. I was once again forced away from my thoughts as the thunderous sound of the doors being flung open, followed by the sound of heavy boots colliding with the highly polished floor made both myself and Rin jump. I gently placed my hand upon her shoulder as if to console her, however as the men approached she shrugged it off. I understood she felt this was something she needed to do herself; she didn't need my support this time. She loved Kaito and this was her battle, Miku was her competition.

I was alarmed as the large gaggle of soldiers entered the room, all mimicking each other's actions perfectly, right down to which foot they placed in front first as they walked. There was something rather unsettling about it. I was even more alarmed when I couldn't see Miku amongst them. Rin appeared to be concerned by the lack of a woman amongst them as well. After passing her eyes over the men many times she finally spoke.

"Bring her forward" She ordered, assuming she was with them. For one terrible instant I truly believed they had killed her by accident, that they had left her body among the ruins of the green kingdom, however, as the crowd of men parted I saw her. My eyes widened as I saw her in a seemingly comatose state. Her head lolled forward so I couldn't see her face, her once lustrous green hair seemed lank and dull as it hung in clumps down her face. It was undone from it's usually pigtails, and trailed on the floor, dirt and leaves tangled within it. I could see that the bottom of her dress was torn and ragged, I assumed she had literally been dragged all of the way here and was now worn out, by the looks of it she'd put up a decent fight, as I could clearly see a large cut across one of the men's cheeks, he held her up by one arm while another man stood on the opposite side mirroring him. My heart pounded furiously as it always did when I saw this girl, however today it was from distress, I longed to rescue her from this ordeal, my heart told me to heroically leap down and snatch her away. However duty and respect held me in place, next to my twin. The hood disguised my pained expression, my heart was torn.

"So THIS is her?" Rin mocked unimpressed. "You Miku, stand before your Princess and explain why Kaito loves you and not me!" Rin raged, her face was red with fury as she glared down at Miku. Weakly lifting her head up she began to answer"

"I...I'm so..rry" She replied in a frail tone. My heart went out to her; I prayed Rin's heart would melt as mine was right now. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and she was trembling.

"Release her" Rin ordered, the men obeyed her, dropping Miku to the floor. She gasped as she hit the floor, presumably in pain. I felt myself react to this against my will, I raised my arm slightly, spreading my hand out as if to reach for her, noticing this I quickly pulled myself together, checking no one had noticed this. Rin commanded her to stand, she automatically responded, clearly terrified of Rin. She feebly forced herself to her feet, it took her a while, however Rin seemed patient, sizing her up seeing how much competition she really was. When she had accomplished this she clumsily tread forward toward Rin, she stopped, reluctantly staring up at her. In response Rin stared coolly back. Somewhat of a laugh came from Rin's direction, she sneered down at Miku. I held my hand to my chest, silently praying for Rin to spare her life. A silent tear rolled down my cheek.

"She is not worth it" Rin waved her hand as if already bored with her prisoner. "Lock her in the dungeons" She said laughed a cruel laugh. Miku was crying again, she didn't sob as I had expected to her, the tears flowed gently down her soft cheeks. I wasn't sure if this was with relief or misery that she would be locked away on her own, however I found myself crying with her.

"We shall see how much Kaito loves you in this state!" She said spitefully as Miku was lifted off her feet once more and carried away to the dungeons. I gasped painfully as she was taken away from me once more, I was crying, really crying, and I wasn't sure if Rin had noticed. Now she stood and watched me once more, a repulsed look upon her porcelain face.

"I shall never understand men" She remarked bitterly before leaving the throne room, leaving me alone. I knelt next to the throne and let tears of relief take over me.


	8. Chapter 8

The following day I felt optimistic once more, Miku was still alive, and for once she was within my reach, and not guarded by Kaito. So going against what I believed would be my Princess's wishes, I awoke incredibly early to gather supplies. I wouldn't be able to free Miku; however I would make things as painless as possible for her. I would be her companion within the lonely confined of the dank and eerie dungeons, as I myself knew how it felt to be alone, especially right now when Rin seemed so far away from me. So, I ventured to the kitchen stealing some food supplies to feed her with, I stole into the old kitchen, I found a basin which I filled with warm water. I also grabbed a sponge and a hairbrush before making my way down to the secluded cells of the dungeons. I rarely came down here as they, shall we say, 'creeped me out'. Though I would brave it for my love, Miku. After making a few trips up and down the perilous steps, I finally had all of my items with me, now all that was left to do was find my green princess. I slunk down the cold corridor, checking each frightening cell for her. Finally I spotted her green hair, and stopped before the cell. She slowly lifted her head up, tears in her eyes, worry etched upon her beautiful face. I lifted the hood from my face, a risk I was willing to take to help her, and her eyes widened with shock.

"Len?" She asked weakly. I smiled warmly down at her nodding; I fumbled with the lock on her cell, slipping in and placing the items I had brought with me on the floor, save for the food which I had placed in a sack. She was staring at me uncertainly, my intentions unclear to her as I knelt beside her, I held my hands up as if to surrender.

"I brought you some food..." I smiled weakly, passing her the sack. Tentatively she took it from me, her hands trembling, however as she peered inside and saw I really had brought her food she placed it down beside her before flinging her arms around my neck. I was taken aback, and for a moment thought she was attacking me, though I could understand if she had done this, I shut my eyes as if to shield myself, but realising she wasn't hurting me I slowly opened them to see she was hugging me. I blushed, she'd never shown me this much affection before. Timidly I placed my hands on her back, returning her hug, though unsure where was best to place my hands for fear of offending her. She stayed like this for a while, obviously needing the support. I didn't mind, it felt great. I breathed in shakily feeling my heart picking up the pace as usual. I felt as if I were about to melt from this sensation. I would've stayed that way forever if I could, however I remembered that time was not on my side, and reluctantly, I cleared my throat to catch her attention. I felt her arms slip away from me, and she moved away, blushing.

"So, may I ask what the tub of water is for?" She asked nervously tugging at her knotted hair. I smiled; glad she had brought it up. I produced a sponge from one of the bags, holding it up so she could clearly see what it was. She tilted her head slightly and smiled a little.

"Oh I see" She began nodding a little. "You want me to wash?" She laughed a little as I had said she was dirty. I shrugged absently, brushing my hair away from my eyes as if to get a better view of her, after all, she was beautiful.

"Well I thought it would help your wounds..." I blushed, it was a slight lie, part of me just wanted to touch her hair, her long green hair. Oh to be able to run my hands through it smell it. "Besides...your hair could use it as well" I grinned at her, she giggled in response, nodding in agreement. She gave me permission to clean her wounds, yet each time I went to clean one I'd as her permission yet again, as if I may startle her without at least telling her I was about to do it. I spent the whole experience with my face the color red, the problem being I liked her too much to feel comfortable touching her so much, and when I washed her hair! I swear my heart had never pounded so much before; I genuinely began to think it would somehow jump from my chest out of my mouth. She was so delicate, I wanted her to be mine so badly, but secretly knew I could never have her. Like her hair slipping easily through my fingers, I knew she was never to be mine, even if she did escape this nightmare she would run back to Kaito. She studied me carefully as I brushed her slowly drying hair.

"What's bothering you?" She asked gently laying her hand on mine. Her generosity touched me, however there was no way I could tell her how I really felt, so I lied and told her I was fine, making sure I faked a smile for the rest of the time I spent with her. It wasn't particularly difficult; I found I smiled a lot when I was with her, even if we were talking about something completely serious, her friendly nature and enchanting aura would make me smile against my will. Oh I had fallen hard for her, though I wouldn't admit that fully to myself.

Once I was finished brushing her now glossy hair, she thanked me gratefully for the food, and carefully pulled some fruit from the bag and began to eat ravenously, poor girl probably hadn't eaten in days. She blushed as she noticed I was watching her, apologising for her un-lady-like mannerisms. I smiled sympathetically at her, trying to understand what she must be feeling right now. She'd just lost her friends, her family, her home, even her freedom. I wished I could help her more. Selfishly my head screamed if only I'd become Prince instead of Rin being Princess...I was appalled by this sudden thought and simply ignored it, already feeling guilty for thinking it. If I were King she'd love me like she loves Kaito...however I didn't WANT to be king OR like Kaito, I loved serving my twin, and I hated the spoiled king, yet none of this helped me to save Miku.

"There's no need for you to apologise, I am the on whose should be apologising" I admitted not only to her, but to myself as well. I had only meant to apologise, however I ended up telling her the whole story of why she was here and why the green kingdom was now only a sweet memory. By the time I had finished she had slowly edged herself away from me, and was now huddled in a corner with tears spilling from her soft green eyes. She stared at me resentfully, this had been the whole reason I'd concealed my identity, the whole reason I hadn't told her all of this before. The whole reason I hadn't told Rin that Kaito had a lover. I felt as if someone had plunged a knife deep in to my heart as I approached her once more she edged away fearfully. It hurt to know the girl I loved now hated me, though I knew she had every right to. I approached her once more; I held my arms where she could see them, hoping to seem less threatening this way.

"Miku please-" I began hopefully.

"No! Please just...leave...leave..." She was crying again, I had hoped the truth would ease her suffering, though it seemed that my attempts to console her had done the opposite. I felt my heart breaking as my every movement seemed to startle her, so I bowed low to her as I might do to my Queen, and made my way to the door of her cell. I stopped, gripping the icy metal in my hand. I needed her to know something. I turned to look at her quivering shape in the corner, tears glistening in the corners of my own eyes now. I smiled reassuringly, more for myself than for her this time.

"I...I'm so sorry Miku, I know I've upset you, hell I've even helped to destroy you...but, even so, I'll still take care of you...even of you don't want me to...because...because...I love you..." I regretted saying this the moment it escaped from my lips, and in humiliation I fled from the dungeons. How could I have said that out loud? She would surely think I had taken care of her today to try and get something in return...wasn't that what most men did? I panted as I reached the top of the steep steps, I didn't want such things in return, all I wanted was to know she would be okay at the end of this terrible ordeal. I had unintentionally stayed with Miku too long, my fixation with her almost costing both of us our heads since Rin was, once again, in a fiery mood, the second I came into sight I was bombarded with questions.

"Where on EARTH have you been? Why did you leave me? You have work to do you know!" She practically screamed at me, I apologised as sincerely as I could without giving my whereabouts away before awaiting her commands. Irritated by a stray strand of her hair she pinned it back with the rest of her hair. I noticed she'd made a lot of effort with her appearance today. I wasn't sure what that meant for me, however I had an awful feeling it would involve me. I was right as she turned away from her mirror to scowl at me. Why was it she seemed constantly displeased with me lately?

"I need you to go and fetch Kaito" She sighed dreamily as she spoke his name. Oh I loathed the man, yet for Rin I would've ventured out to find the devil himself. So reluctantly I saddled up Josephine and made the tedious journey to the kingdom of blue. I didn't rush, in fact we ambled, I had no desire to see this man, and even less desire to take him back to my home. In fact I would be amazed if I could even get in to see him, why on Earth would he want a lowly servant such as myself in his castle? He hated me as it was, he knew better than Miku that I had feelings for her...Miku. I wondered what she would say next time I saw her, I felt myself blushing as I reflected on what I'd said. I shouldn't have told her, not about her kingdom, and certainly not about my feelings, they didn't help her, in fact they caused her more pain than good. I hung my head in shame. I never seemed to learn from my mistakes.

I should've prepared myself for the worst before I left, I had of course know I would need to pass the ruins of the Green Kingdom, despite this knowledge I had foolishly pretended that the kingdom still stood in all it's glory, and that I wouldn't pass a battlefield. My jaw dropped as we neared the battle torn ruins of the once glorious kingdom of Green. Josephine seemed to grow more discouraged with each step toward the abandoned wreck. She reared her head up, attempting to turn the other way, however I tugged tightly on the reins, forcing her to keep moving forward, and though we had been moving at a slow pace before, now we had almost come to a standstill as we drifted like ghosts through the now empty village. So many houses and shops that had only yesterday been standing, crowded with people were now demolished, burnt cinders being blow away by the cruel wind. Trees had been torn down, so we were careful to move around them. Carts were overturned, their contents scattered carelessly across the ground. The remnants of life before chaos ensued were a constant reminder of the massacre that had taken place in the village.

My heart sunk as I spotted a child's doll. I leant down to pick it up, its face had been shattered, one of its arms violently torn from the socket, nowhere to be seen, lost amongst the madness. I stroked the remaining hair it had left with my thumb, as if it were able to feel. As if rescuing this one doll would make up for my sins. I felt feverish as we travelled through the ghost town, as if I may faint at any moment. I could taste vomit, feeling it climbing up my throat as my weary eyes passed over a corpse. Almost laughable, I who had killed so many couldn't face a corpse now. A woman, the heavy curls of her hair still not enough to cover the disfigurement of a once beautiful face. The sunken eyes in her head seemed to move to stare at me, as if to accuse me. I had done this. The mutilated look of fear on her lifeless face as she stared hatefully at me. I was slowly driving myself into a sense of hysteria; shivers ran through my body, I wanted to look away from her, to never look back, to whip Josephine into fleeing this nightmare as fast as I could. However my eyes were fixated on this woman, as if driving myself into insanity would make up for my crimes against the innocent people who now lay dead upon the ground.

My breathing was erratic, I was laughing uneasily, quietly at first, nervous laughter, though it was gaining volume, and I could no longer control it. I laughed unnaturally, I was laughing so loudly I was screaming. Screaming at the top of my lungs as if someone were trying to wring my neck. Had anyone been there I imagine they would've fled as my hysteria grew more, a continuous scream of fear, of guilt of sympathy, of self hatred. Josephine was rearing up in terror, attempting to throw me from her back. Now my chest ached, it hurt to scream, I felt as if my lungs were bleeding, with exhaustion my screams began to lessen. They didn't deteriorate completely, instead they turned to sobs, and as I managed to gain control over my limbs again I forced Josephine to run, gallop away far away, I never wanted to come back. I sobbed madly as she ran; perhaps she thought she could escape me if she leapt away from this terrible place, almost as if she sensed the death surrounding us.

By the time we had reached the blue kingdom I was enervated, both mentally and physically. My breathing would cause me to jolt every now and then from the crying. I could taste my tears, which had finally ceased to flow, I was a mess, I had been for a while now, not just today but everyday since I had first killed a man. It had affected me more than I had known, and it was only now I realised it. Still even as tears dried on my face I moved ever closer to the Kaito's castle, knowing whatever happened there would not measure up to my fit of hysteria earlier on, or so I believed. I must've looked like I was dying as the guards took pity on me as I requested to see the prince, after only a few simple questions I was granted access to the prince. I left Josephine in safe hands and traipsed wearily to see him. His throne room was around the same size as Rin's I guessed, though the blue and white interior made it look twice the size, making me feel as if I were entering a vast labyrinth. There were guards everywhere unlike in Rin's throne room, she didn't like to be...smothered, as she had put it, and I felt uncomfortable as all eyes were on me.

Kaito himself didn't seem to be paying much attention to me, and it was only as I neared him that he took notice of me, a look of disgust plastered across his handsome face, he sickened me just as much as I evidently sickened him. He leered down at me, his body was tense with anger, and he seethed now as I stopped, reluctantly bowing low before him, oh how lucky for me that he couldn't see the look of pure repulsion on my face. He swiftly ordered me to stand, and just as swiftly demanded that all of the guards leave the room. I was sweating a little, as much as I disliked being watched a sense of unease came over me as the men left, I could only guess why he had sent his defence away. I suddenly wished I had brought my sword. The doors were shut tightly, and the loud bang from the impact of the doors closing reverberated through the large room, suddenly making me feel alone.

With unimaginable speed I was seized and lifted from my feet. My hands instinctively went to my sword holster, only to remember that it was empty. I desperately groped for my neck, flailing hopelessly as I did so. His wide hands wrapped mercilessly around my scrawny neck, his grip tightened as I fought against him, kicking and scratching at his hands with my nails. I felt him press harder against my windpipe, making a strangled gasp of sheer pain slip from my lips. Now I remembered, I was only a boy, he was a man. I could feel my breath being choked out of me, I wondered if I was going to die, and as my distress heightened I was humiliated to feel tears coming to my eyes once more. I wanted to free myself but I didn't have the strength to do it, and I began to lose strength in my arms, and I felt my grip on his hands loosening, I shut my eyes, willing myself to hold on but feeling useless now.

Relief as I was thrown to the floor, I wheezed, allowing my lungs to fill with air once more, gasping. I felt light headed. My head span as I stared up at the towering figure above me. His broad shoulders reminded me of a mountain, how was I supposed to fight this man? I whimpered childishly as he reached for me, violently pulling me to my feet, though holding the collar of my shirt in a tight grasp. Even when I stood, attempting to puff my chest out and seem threatening he towered over me. Disheartened he stared me down, gripping my arm, his own hand like a vice. Involuntarily a small squeak of pain came from me, signalling to him that he had me right where he wanted me.

"Where is she?" He spat through gritted teeth, blinking+ uncertainly for a few moments not registering what he meant, but as I figured out he meant Miku I also realised that I could use this to my advantage. If he were to get hold of Miku I wouldn't stand a chance, I knew that for certain now as he used his muscles to restrain any outburst from me, I admitted to myself I was jealous, his height his looks his strength, not to mention his power. I had nothing over him, so I knew the only way to win Miku's heart was to lie. I averted my eyes to the floor, feigning mourning before speaking.

"She's dead" I whispered softly as if saying it any louder would jinx her life. He growled at me, throwing me to the floor again. I gasped in pain as my shoulder hit the tiles. I pushed myself in to a sitting position quickly, though not quickly enough to avoid his foot coming down on my shoulder. I opened my mouth to scream but was too shocked to do so. It didn't hurt as I expected it to; he was simply keeping me in place. He removed his foot and instead knelt down to my level, leaning his knee against my stomach, making me grimace in pain. He pierced me with his startling blue eyes filled with rage.

"I KNOW that isn't true, I know what you feel for her, it is BLATANTLY obvious you have feelings for her" He spat viciously down at me, his face so close now I could feel his breath against my cheek. "You would not have let her die, where is she?" He snarled at me. I hated being so close to him, truthfully I was terrified.

"No, really, everyone in the green kingdom was killed" I lied, unable to stare him in the eye and say it. He pulled me up once more, pushing me against a wall. I was sure I could see tears in his eyes, but he was choking me again and I couldn't focus my eyes properly with the overwhelming pain. I opened my eyes gritting my teeth and staring at him. I twitched with fear as his fist collided with the wall inches away from my face. I was trembling, I was certain he was going to hit me now. Instead he seemed to be crying tears of frustration, and all too suddenly I felt sympathy for him. He really did love her. I desperately wanted to tell him Miku was alive, however I couldn't do it. He was letting his grip falter, taking advantage of this I removed his hand from throat, falling to the floor again, rubbing at my bruised neck.

He turned away from me know, seemingly a broken man. He hung his head, knowing full well I could attack him while his back was turned. In a flat voice he asked

"So why are you here?" running a hand through his blue hair. My knees trembled violently as I forced myself to stand; I would not allow this man see my fear or my weakness. I absently tightened my ponytail, anything to distract myself.

"Rin...Rin wants you to visit her" I found my voice was husky from the lack of air. I cleared my throat and awaited his response. He turned to look at me; disgust adorned his face once more. 

"As if I would want to see her after what she did to the green kingdom!" spat resentfully. I shook my head, knowing all along that this journey would be a waste of time. So I bowed once more before going to leave. Though as I did he spoke.

"Oh one last thing" He began; I politely turned to face him anxiously. "If you ever show your face in my kingdom again, I will have you killed. The same goes for your sister" He said coldly, not even flinching at this threat. I nodded understandingly and practically sprinted back to Josephine. The journey home wasn't half as painful, though we flew from the blue kingdom at an alarming speed, the same could be said for our journey through the green kingdom. As we returned I could see Rin's silhouette through one of the curtains. She would be furious when she discovered that Kaito wasn't with me. Miserably I entered the caste to a solemn looking Rin. I bowed low, hoping this would somehow make up for my failure.

"Where is he?" She cut straight to the chase. I bowed my head shamefully before explaining.

"He wouldn't come, he's furious with us about the green kingdom, and about Miku. He said if we set foot in his kingdom again he'll have us killed" I finished bluntly, awaiting an outburst from my twin. However she was oddly silent, she simply nodded and said

"I see" in a monotonous tone. I began to relax a little, thinking maybe she was over him. "You didn't tell him she was alive did you?" She questioned coldly. I smiled; pleased I'd done something to make her happy.

"Of course not, I told him she was dead" I smiled at her, hoping this would melt her icy mood. Oh she did smile, but not in the way I had hoped, she smiled her cruel smile that made me feel uneasy. I felt myself stroking my neck, wondering if she'd noticed the red lines running across it, signalling to her that my trip hadn't been an easy one. I was caught completely off guard by her next question.

"She's your lover isn't she?" She smirked nastily, a taunting look upon her face. As I said, I was caught completely off guard. My mouth gaped open; I blushed unable to form a suitable answer.

"W...what? No...n...no..." I stuttered, I knew myself this wasn't convincing, but I couldn't understand how she'd figured it out. I managed to force my gaping mouth shut, and hoped she wouldn't notice as I shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"You think I didn't notice the way you reacted to her being locked away? Or the things you took down for her this morning, the reason you were awake so early, and also the reason you were late?" She asked in a tone that implied I thought she was an idiot. I wasn't sure how to react, whether to lie or whether to tell the truth.

"Why did you not tell me?" She questioned, clearly offended by my lack of honesty. I bowed my head, feeling ashamed once more, then realised I had a simple answer to that.

"I knew it wouldn't make a difference" I whispered, it had been barely audible, though she reacted as if I'd shouted in her face. She slapped me. Hard. I was stunned, raising a shaking hang to my stinging cheek; I looked up at her hurt by this. She had never hurt me before. She scowled at me, shaking her head as if she were disappointed. A felt a mixture of anger and hurt, how could she slap me? The only person who had been loyal to her for so long.

"No you are right, it does not make a difference, because clearly Kaito and you care more for her than you care for me" She retorted, her voice shaking with anger. This was a fact I was eager to deny, though I cared for Miku I loved Rin more than anything else. I began to contradict her however she raised a hand to silence me and cut in.

"Clearly the only way for me to keep you Len and to win Kaito...is to dispose of her" She spoke as if she had just come up with a brilliant idea. The words I'd dreaded hearing for so long, a nightmare coming true. I shook my head in disbelief, my jaw had dropped again. I backed away from her suddenly frightened of the malevolent person she had become. I felt trapped, the place that had once been my home now seemed like a prison of lies and death, I couldn't escape, it felt as if the walls were rapidly drawing closer to me. What could I do? I knew what Rin had planned yet I disagreed with it, I wanted to run away from her, to regain my innocence once more, but what could I do? I was her twin; fate bound us together in a way that cannot be easily explained. An invisible thread held us together, and whenever we were apart for too long I felt as if I were slowly deteriorating, like I'd die if the invisible strand were cut. It would pull me back, almost as if to save my life.

"I want you-" She began, however I interrupted her, holding my arms before me like a shield, turning my head to face away from her. I grimaced at the thought of her plan. I wouldn't do it.  
>I knew I should set myself up for the fall of a lifetime, to lose the one I loved, but I couldn't bear to think of it.<p>

"No please, I can't" My voice came out as a whimper. I flinched as she approached me, expecting another blow to my face. I shut my eyes tight, willing myself away from this castle filled with misery. Instead I felt her delicate hands upon my arms, gently forcing them away from their defensive position. She laced her slender fingers between my own, lulling me into a sense of security. I saw a look of sincerity upon her pallid face, my old Rin that was my old Rin. I stared at her uncertain of her intentions now. She released one of her hands from mine, gracefully lifting her hand to my face, and caressing the spot where she'd struck me. I didn't know what to say to her, her sudden change of mood had completely thrown me. I recoiled as she moved closer to me; softly she kissed my cheek, staring up at me with apprehension. Times like this I secretly wondered to myself if we had a healthy brother sister relationship.

"Rin..." I trailed off, still unable to think of a suitable response, so instead I looked down at my feet, waiting for her to speak instead. She drew herself closer to me, making me deeply uneasy. She embraced me lovingly, I knew what she was trying to do, she was trying to delude me into trusting her again. To my dismay I felt my cold heart melting as she whispered to me that she loved me and trusted me. I wrapped my arms around her, feeling my love and respect for her returning. I hated myself, I was pathetic, falling into a trap I knew had been cleverly set for me, why did I let myself be drawn in by her? Like a moth to a flame I was drawn, even though I knew the outcome would leave me in tatters, she built up my ego, making me feel sorry for her as she always did.

"Please Len I need you, you...you are the only person I have left. You are the only person I truly trust" She stared deep into my eyes wearing down the invisible wall I had placed between the two of us, her distressed expression cracked my defences, and foolishly I smiled at her, brushing her hair away from her face as a gesture of love.

"You promise to do anything for me" She whispered earnestly. Absurdly I nodded, releasing myself from her grip and kneeling respectfully before her. I was filled with determination; I desperately wanted to make her happy again. She smiled charmingly down at me, batting her soft eyelashes at me. Oh she was pretty, my twin.

"Good, now, for me and only me, I want you finish her" She ordered me, the words that would break me. I nodded gravely, I would not question her now, I would just do it because I knew that this was the best option not only for Rin, but for Miku as well.


	9. Chapter 9

Even though Miku knew who I was I retrieved my cloak from its hidden place, solemnly I pulled it over my head. My heart was stone. I turned to see Rin clutching the sword in both hands. Without looking her in the eye I obtained the sword, grasping it tightly as I disappeared down into the dungeons for the last time. Each step made my heart heavier and heavier, I desperately wanted to free her, but what would be the point? Rin would have us both killed, besides she had nothing to return to, her home, her family, her friends, her life were all gone, demolished along with the green kingdom.

I trudged down the pitch black hall leading me to her, and for the first time since meeting her, I disliked seeing her. I wondered if she was still angry with me, it certainly would make things easier, however to my dismay she smiled joyfully up at me as I entered, a sharpened dagger concealed beneath my cloak. This somewhat cracked the armour I had built up for myself, letting me feel for her once more. She stood, alarming me as she moved toward me, I was careful not to cut her as she ran to embrace me. A faint blush on her cheeks she looked at my grim expression and her cheery smile faded though she didn't let go of me.

"What's wrong?" She asked nervously, laughing a little to relieve the tension. I couldn't do it, just go in there and murder her without any explanation. I slipped my hand into hers and led her to a small stool; she sat as I motioned for her to do, clearly concerned by my lack of warmth towards her. I sighed, feeling myself breaking as I began to speak.

"I've been given terrible orders...to...to kill you" My voice broke on the word kill, making it all seem so pointless. Killing her wouldn't help a thing and I knew this myself, however Rin didn't. Suddenly Miku's expression fell, her eyes lost their hope, she stared down into her lap, clasping her hands together to stop herself from shaking. I knelt down in front of her to stare into her deep green eyes. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, yet she smiled at me all the same. It tore me apart to see her in such misery. Her life had been her only hope, and now I was to rob her of that as well. What hadn't I taken from her? I held her trembling hands, even as she inwardly lost all hope she still smiled reassuringly at me.

"I see" She spoke softly; she sounded calm despite her fate. She gazed into my eyes searching for something, I was blushing, my pulse quickened. I felt as if she could see right into my soul, but what more could she learn about me that I'd kept secret? She already knew I was an assassin, and now she knew my feelings for her. I wanted to turn away, her gaze was distressing me, I didn't want to love her anymore, it would just make the pain worse. Yet despite this I didn't turn away, I didn't want to stop staring into her green eyes, emotive green eyes. I suddenly noticed how close we were. I wanted to kiss her, but I feared it would only distress her more, for why would she care for me? A pathetic servant, a murderer, a child in comparison to Kaito. Without breaking our gaze she spoke.

"So how will I die?" She asked casually as if it were an everyday question. I swiftly removed the dagger from my cloak, and held it between our two faces, not wanting her to hinder this moment between us. Her eyes ran up and down the sharp edge of the blade, and I saw her flinch a little. She flew into my arms once more, she was crying hopelessly, she had finally realised the reality of the dire situation. Guilt consumed me as I cradled her fragile body, holding her to my chest. I was rock, I wouldn't cry, not now when she needed me. So I let her sob, and wail until her shaking body was exhausted, she laid her head on my shoulder sniffing weakly. The hair on the back of my neck stood as I felt her gently breathe against the side of my neck. Her frail little body felt limp against mine. I stroked her hair gently, intertwining it between my fingers. The thought that this would be the last time I stroked her hair, felt her breath against my neck, saw her breathing was overwhelming, I thought I would cry, however she sat up before me and stared into my eyes again.

"If I'm going to die then...I need you to know I...I love you too" Tears slipped down her pale cheeks as she smiled affectionately at me. I stared at her in disbelief, I must be dreaming I though to myself. I stared at her in awe as she planted a kiss upon my hand.

"B...but why? I'm not a prince" It sounded childish even to me, and she laughed a little through her tears, wiping a tear from my own face, a tear I hadn't even felt escaping. She kept her hand on my cheek staring sincerely at me. "Because you're kind, and gentle...I don't really know for certain, I just know that the first time I saw you was the first time I smiled from my heart" She said passionately, caressing my cheek as Rin had earlier, but it felt different than the way Rin had done it. I knew I was crying even though I'd promised myself I wouldn't, how could I kill the only girl who had truly loved me. Yet she still smiled at, she opened her arms to me and a determined look adorned her face.

"Okay, I'm ready now I can die without regret now" I knew she was only putting on a brave face for my sake; this only made me cry more. She shut her eyes in anticipation, awaiting her death. However I wasn't ready to let her go yet, just a few more moments with her, that's all I wanted. I gulped, my pulse racing again as I moved close to her, she opened one of her eyes slightly to see what I was doing, not even I was too sure at this stage, I was letting my heart do what it wanted. I slipped my arms around her small waist, pulling her body against mine; she was startled, and opened her eyes to witness for herself what I was doing. I blushed as I moved closer to her, my head was screaming at me to desist what I was doing and kill her immediately, however for once I ignored my logic, and nervously moved my face closer to hers. Her face had gone crimson with this close contact, and she watched me anxiously.

"Len?" She whispered, my face was so close to hers that I could feel her warm breath against my lips. I knew I had to do this now or I would be too embarrassed to continue, so I shut my eyes tightly and let my lips brush against hers. Her lips were amazingly soft. Her body was tense against mine as I did this, but after a few moments it relaxed and she kissed me back. My heart was racing; I'd never kissed a girl before. I didn't want to part from her, I didn't want this brilliant feeling to leave me, but I was crying again knowing this was as close as I would ever get to her, and as we parted she smiled gratefully at me. I moved behind her removing the blade and holding it with both hands against her chest. I could hear myself sob as I did this, I just couldn't stab her, and she knew this. Gently she took my hands in hers and helped me to plunge the dagger deep into her chest; a sharp gasp escaped her lips as it collided with her heart. She fell backwards into my arms, she was trembling violently, her intakes of breath became sharp and irregular, I lay her head on my lap as she gasped for air, sobs coming from both of us, I held her hand, gripping it tightly. Feeling the life ebbing away from her with each passing second, my regret growing with each passing second. I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take, her cries of pain tore me apart, I screamed but she squeezed my hand as if to console me, and as I stared down at her through blurred eyes, she stared up at me, her face suddenly serene, she mouthed the words 'thank you' before losing her grip on my hand, her eyes darkened, and the smile slipped from her lips. She was dead.


	10. Chapter 10

I whispered her name silently wishing for a response, as I anticipated she didn't reply. Her eyes had lost their shine, and the final tears she had shed were rapidly drying against her cheek. A deep sob came from within me; I held her limp body against my chest, cradling her head as I cried. Slipping my hand into hers once more, I rocked her gently as if she could still feel me, I kissed her cheeks repeatedly. Her head lolled to one side and I buried my face in her neck, I wrenched the dagger from her, with a sickening slicing sound it came out. I hurled it across the room furiously; I let out a cry of misery as it clattered to the floor before turning back to Miku's body. I wasn't sure how long I was down there for, but I cried the whole time, I couldn't stop the tears now, I cried even when my eyes stung and ached from it, I cried even as my aching chest begged me to stop. I could feel my legs going numb as I had been crouch on the floor with her for so long, but I didn't care, I kept sobbing. I could feel her body cooling now despite the warmth of mine against it, and this made me grieve more.

I calmed myself a little, enough to look down at her cold body, I felt a stabbing pain in my chest as I stared down at her, she looked like a princess. An absurd thought struck me, princesses could be awoken by a kiss, and right now she looked so much like a sleeping princess, her green hair tousled into charming little curls around her pale face, her lips still pink as if she really were only sleeping. Her long eyelashes curled making her look feminine and beautiful. I gently kissed her lips as I had before, feeling a slight warmth to them still, they were so soft. This time there was no response, and as I pulled away I felt my heart breaking again, I collapsed into tears cradling her once more, I wailed as an injured animal might, a cry that didn't sound human.

I presumed it had been hours, as I could clearly see my fingers turning blue from the cold, I shivered as I protected her body from unknown danger. The tears had still not stopped, even as I grew colder and colder myself. I hoped I'd die down there, I longed for death to take me, to punish me in the worst possible ways it could. I hoped the cold would kill me, slowly, taking over my body, taking it's time to shut down my organs so that I suffered as Miku had. I felt I deserved to die now, yet I wasn't even sure if death was cruel enough, perhaps I would stay down here, and force myself to watch her body decompose, to teach me a lesson I desperately needed to learn. I would've done it as well, only as I cried I felt a warm hand against my cool shoulder, for one blissful second, I believed that it was Miku, somehow returned from the dead. My pitiful crying stopped temporarily as I turned, a hopeful smile on my face, only to see my sister standing behind me.

My heart seemed to crack in two as hope faded and the tears began once more, I screamed in pain and cried on Miku once more. Rin kneeled beside me, gathering my trembling body in her arms and letting me sob on her chest. She stroked my hair softly, humming an old lullaby to me, kissing the top of my head like a child. It was only now I realised how much like a child I still was. We stayed like this for a long while, yet my tears still didn't stop. Eventually she sighed and pulled away from me, standing.

"Len...you have been down here for five hours, please come back up" She pleaded softly with me, tugging at my arm; I yanked my arm away from her shaking my head. She didn't understand how I felt. No one did. I clung to Miku for dear life, I wouldn't let anyone take her from me, even when she started to decay, I'd never let her go.

"No!...no...I deserve to live down here...I want to die Rin...I deserve this...I WANT TO DIE!" I screamed at her, I was so cold, my body ached with exhaustion, begging me to let Miku go, I hated myself for thinking this way, and slapped myself across the face. Rin gasped as I repeated this motion again and again, she took hold of my wrist, stopping me from doing this again.

"Len! I know you are in pain but...there is no need to take it out on yourself!" She declared, clearly distressed by my disturbing behaviour. I attempted to pull my hand from her grasp, but was so weak I couldn't manage it so I instead continued to sob helplessly. The glint from the bloodied dagger caught my eye, I lunged for it, Rin screamed at me to stop, but I wanted to end it, I wanted to be with her. As I went to plunge it into my body she struck the back of my head, making me lose focus and drop the knife. As I was dazed, she used this opportunity to retrieve the dagger from the floor, and hide it behind her back. I hadn't the energy to chase her for it.

"Look, I...I really am sorry I made you do this but you are the only family I have left, no one else cares! Please please stay with me, if you die, I don't know what I will do!" She fell to her knees beside me, she was also crying now, clinging to my arm, begging me not to leave her alone in the world. She appeared so helpless and childlike. Finally I came to my senses and threw my arms around her apologetically, I couldn't leave Rin alone, she needed me.

"I'll never leave you Rin, I love you too much" I told her truthfully, wiping the tears away from her large blue eyes with my index finger. "Even when I'm away I'll always be here with you in spirit" I promised her, clutching her hand in mine. I smiled weakly at her, attempting to reassure her.

"But I want you here with me not in spirit I don't want you to die!" She wailed, I could tell from her tone that she was frightened, so I pulled the dagger away from her, and I flung it away from us once more. The tears continued to stream down my cheeks as I embraced her, thought they were silent now, I didn't sob. She absently played with my ponytail; it seemed to relax her so I made no attempt to stop her. I was thinking to myself, it would be selfish to simply leave Miku's body in this vile place to rot, so I would do the proper thing and bury her. I pulled myself away from Rin and looked at her seriously.

"I'm not going to leave you but there's something that I need to do, and you have to let me do it" I felt a little uneasy ordering Rin to do something when it was usually the other way round. She looked at me curiously, tilting her head to one side as I often did. She gestured for me to continue. "I want to bury Miku, I loved her Rin I really did and I'm going to do this whether you agree with me or not" I blushed, expecting a tantrum, yet to my surprise she just nodded.

"Okay, but promise me you will return afterwards" She gave me a pleading look. I smiled and nodded, promising her I would. I removed the my cloak and put it on Miku to disguise the fact I was carrying a dead body. I felt for Kaito I really did, and part of me wanted to take Miku to the blue kingdom where I knew she'd have a proper burial, however after his previous threat I knew there was no way I could set foot in the blue kingdom without being murdered. So instead I decided to leave her somewhere I knew he would find her. I knew of a place near the blue kingdom, it was beautiful with tall trees and a lovely stream, the kind of place you would only find in books. I had heard that the prince often went there to think, so I decided this would be the best place for her, beautiful just like she was. The journey there was tricky, especially since I had to carry her, but eventually I got there.

I lovingly lay her down on the fresh green grass, splaying her hair around her just like a real princess. I sighed, she looked so peaceful as if she were asleep, not wanting to roam to far away from her I moved only a little way away from her to pick some flowers. This took more time than anticipated as I kept checking back to make sure that she was still where I had left her, and of course she was. When I finally had enough flowers I arranged them carefully around her body, placing them in her hair and over her body, gently folding her arms on her chest, placing a small bouquet in her cold hands. She looked like snow white as I stared down at her, I hadn't wanted to alarm Kaito with her, so instead I'd attempted to make her look peaceful and beautiful just as she had been in life, I wanted him to know that I really had cared for her as he had. I was crying again by the end of this, not wanting to leave her, yet I'd promised Rin that I would return to her, so reluctantly I kissed her cold lips once more, pulling the cloak back over my own body, feeling a little repulsed when I remembered that it had been on a corpse, I shivered. I looked back only once at her whispering I love you, before making the journey home again.

My logic was that I would leave her there for two days, returning each day to see if she was still there, if she was still there by the end of the second day I would properly bury her as she truly deserved, not wanting animals to get her body. If the body was gone I would know Kaito had found her as I had intended, there was no way he'd simply leave her there, he'd take her and have her buried like royalty, because as much as I hated to say it, he loved her too.

I felt very weak from all of the crying I'd done, not to mention the journeys I'd endured today, yet still I had the incredible urge to run back to the castle, I found myself picking up speed as I walked so that I began to jog, and before I knew it I was sprinting, I could feel tears being thrown from my face as I ran. I wanted to run to Miku, but she wasn't with me anymore, I couldn't reach her now and this fact haunted me, so I kept running as if by exhausting myself completely I might pass out, and perhaps wander from life into an illusion and see her once more. I screamed to the heavens as I ran;

"I LOVE YOU MIKU!" I cried insanely, and as I threw myself through the door to the castle Rin was there, waiting for me. I collapsed in her arms sobbing. Everything was a blur, but it seemed that she lead me up to her room through my fit of sobbing I heard the odd word of comfort, but it meant nothing now. We lay upon Rin's bed, I cried miserably into her lap. She took my hair down from its usual style and brushed it with her fingers, curling a strand of hair at the nape of my neck. She laid my head upon her chest so that she could whisper words of comfort to me and kiss my head. I shut my swollen eyes and imagined I was lying on Miku's chest. I sniffed, listening to Rin's heartbeat wondering if our hearts beat at the same time.

We were there for a long time since I had lost control of my emotions it seemed, I couldn't stop the tears. Rin was tolerant; she sat with me for hours mothering me. There came a point when I wanted to sleep, even when I rested against Rin's chest I couldn't relax, I was consumed by a terrible guilt, it gnawed at my stomach, my heart and my mind, pulling me apart at the seams. I would mutter incoherently about heaven, hell, about my own death and how I wished it upon myself. Rin took it lightly, or she appeared to, gently coaxing me out of these states of rambling.

Rin was good to me that night; when I finally did fall asleep she pulled the covers over me, and climbed in beside me. I didn't sleep for long, as my rest was plagued with nightmares, and every time I saw myself plunging the knife into Miku, I would wake up screaming. Rin was always there, stroking my hair, kissing my cheek, cradling me until I fell into and unsettled sleep again. The whole night was spent this way, yet it didn't seem to bother her, even though I was depriving her of sleep and acting like a madman. I'd never cried so much in my entire life, not when Rin was taken away to learn to become queen, not when I killed a man, not when I was beaten up. I'd seen things most people would never see in their entire lives, and I was only fourteen. My life seemed to be built on misery, yet this seemed by far the worst thing I'd seen, and the worst thing I'd done. I'd never cried so much, nor did I ever cry so much ever again, not even with the grim events to come.


	11. Chapter 11

I awoke very late the following day due to the lack of sleep, and when I finally opened my eyes they were sore and swollen. I blinked away the blur in my vision, finding my eyes painfully sensitive to the light flowing through the drapes. Rin was already up and gone. I felt like an empty shell as I stood up, grabbing one of the bedposts to regain my balance, my head throbbed painfully. I had no tears left to cry today, not for the time being at least, and I wearily stumbled into my own room to change. I did this blearily before staggering down the grand staircase to see Rin.

I met her in the usual place, the throne room, and was stunned to see her pretty face darkened with worry. She wasn't sat regally upon her throne either, she was pacing across the length of the vast hall, one arm folded behind her back, the other held to her mouth. She sighed in exasperation. I approached her some what cautiously, wondering if she was in an explosive mood this morning, I didn't feel much like having her bite my head off the moment I spoke. I stayed a metre or so away from her, what I considered to be a safe distance, before clearing my throat to alert her of my presence. She looked up, a look of panic flashed across her face, but noticing it was only me she relaxed a little. Her hand slipped from her lips to her neck as if fiddling with an invisible necklace, she glanced nervously at me. A sense of impending fear began to grow within me, swelling from my heart outward so that I showed signs of this outside, I ran a hand through my fringe, coughing a little to break the tension. I wished she'd just hurry up and tell me what was bothering her, and how I was to be involved. After an unbearably long period of silence she flew into my arms, I felt myself gasp as her body collided with mine; she wrapped her skinny arms around my neck. I had not been expecting this, and it seemed very out of character for the Rin I knew today, yet it reminded me some what of my innocent little Rin who sat beneath our tree with me so long ago.

"Len there has been talk of an uprising against me" She said this in such a soft tone I struggled to hear her, as if she were frightened that someone was listening in on our conversation. I guessed that this meant I had to commit murder once more. I was emotionally drained, and such a thought didn't seem to bother me as much as usual, I pinched the bridge of my nose, attempting to wake myself properly, I didn't want to be caught out again, I feared my carelessness would get me murdered. I pushed her gently away from me, bowing before her. 

"I promise I will find these people Rin and finish them" She didn't even need to explain my duties anymore, I would simply get on with them, feeling she was all I had to live for now, all else was meaningless to me now. I turned toward the door to leave, but was stopped by a small hand gripping my forearm tightly. I raised a curious eyebrow and turned back to face her, awaiting her instructions.

"No Len, no, there are too many of them, it isn't one or two of them..." She trailed of, nervously fiddling with the tie around my neck as she moved closer to me once more. This closeness made me feel uncomfortable, so I moved away scratching the back of my head to distract myself from the way she was staring at me. I felt her very gaze my suffocate me, she grabbed my hand, clasping it tightly in her own, I looked at her a look of irritation upon my face. Wasn't it clear to her? I just wanted to receive my orders and go, I didn't feel like playing games today, I was empty and uncaring.

"They are forming an army against me!" Her voice cracked, she turned her head away from me, holding a gloved hand to her eyes trying to control a sharp gasp. I tentatively stroked her hand with my thumb, as she had the rest of my hand trapped in her own. She was trembling with emotion. My duty was to her; however, right now I had something I needed to do before this. I secretly suspected that Kaito was behind this, but there was only one way to know for certain. I yanked my hand free from her grasp and gently lay my hand upon her shaking shoulder. I tilted my head and grinned at her reassuringly.

"I will go out there and see for myself, most likely a nasty rumour, but for your peace of mind I'll make sure alright?" I raised an eyebrow, now daring to let my smile drop or show her any sign of fear. She blinked up at me as if confused, but weakly she nodded, signalling for me to leave without saying another word. She seemed too frightened to say anymore, and though I felt guilty for feeling this way, for me it was a blessing, I didn't need her questioning me right now. I collected my cloak, impatiently donning my disguise I sprinted outside. No point in taking Josephine. Would just draw attention. I was alarmed by the position of the Sun in the sky, it was far later in the day than I had assumed, it was at least midday. I felt a pang of sympathy for my dear Rin, she had been on her own for hours worrying that they would burst through the door to capture her any moment...

I bounded down the dirt road; it was a long journey, one I did not enjoy embarking on at the best of times, especially by foot. Despite my mixed feelings of urgency and fear the sky was clear, and the Sun glared down, reflecting my long lost feelings of joy and happiness. I moaned with exhaustion, the heat of the Sun seeming to burn away at my back. The sweat made my thin shirt cling like a wet blanket to my skin; I wiped my forehead with my sleeve hoping I would make it there. What would I do if Miku's body was gone after all? That would mean Kaito really was the one behind the uprising, or at least in on it. Rin would be heartbroken. What would we do if they attempted to attack? Would we make our army fight our own people? All confusing questions but unfortunately relevant.

I reached the field where I had left her and fell to my knees, fatigued by the heat and by the exercise. My chest heaved heavily as I stared at the space where she had been only the night before. I felt light headed and couldn't quite work out why I couldn't see her there anymore. Had she somehow come back to life? The heat was playing havoc with my weary mind. I crawled along on my knees, looking for any evidence that she had ever been there. There was none. I collapsed on to my back in the space where I had supposedly left here, and gazed up at the empty sky. It was rare for the sky to be so empty; the only thing up there was the Sun, drowning the world in light. I felt this way. Completely alone in such a vast space. Kaito had her. It dawned on me as my mind began to function again. A sombre sigh. I had hoped he would take her, but not if he was going to wage war against my sister. Still optimism bloomed in my mind, perhaps the kingdom wasn't against her, we could take on the blue kingdom...just about...providing we all fought together. I wasn't so sure if we could take on the blue kingdom AND our people.

I reluctantly staggered to my weary feet, and made an attempt to race back to Rin, if Kaito had Miku we had little time. I forced my legs into action; I pumped them despite my fatigue. I ran so that the dust from the path billowed around me in a cloud. I spluttered at this, shielding my eyes with an outstretched arm. Why does the Sun shine so much when life is falling apart in every possible way? I couldn't help but wonder. Guilt ate away at me as if I were made of paper, it was my fault that Rin was in danger, if I hadn't let Kaito find Miku's body he would have no evidence to prove that Miku was dead, no reason to believe we had murdered her, hence no reason to attack us. Now he had her body, he had both evidence and reason to wage war on our practically defenceless little kingdom.

My conscience screamed inside my head; this isn't my fault! I wasn't trying to hurt Rin, I was trying to help Miku, there's nothing wrong with that, no I'm not to blame! I wanted so badly to believe this, that my intentions had been pure, that I hadn't meant to jeopardise our home. Oh how I wished to shift the blame upon someone else, but who else was there? Kaito. Yes Kaito's fault for hating Rin, for hating the girl who had destroyed the Kingdom of his lover...no any decent man would want to get revenge on someone for such a crime. Could it be Miku's fault? After all, if she weren't with Kaito Rin would not have destroyed the green kingdom or Miku, my beautiful Miku who fell in love with me, only to be slain by me, poor Miku who only stayed with Kaito to unite two kingdoms that would otherwise have become enemies. No I would never blame my beloved Miku, it wasn't her fault, she was the most innocent of all of us, yet the only one to have died, oh how cruel fate can be. Rin. It was Rin's fault, had she kept her jealousy under control there would've been no war against the kingdom of green, and no reason for Kaito to hate her. Even this sounded absurd. It wasn't Rin's fault, I would never blame Rin either, as I had learned, you couldn't help who you fell in love with or what you did while under that spell.

The only person left to blame was myself, having wasted my time by going full circle, I miserably admitted to myself that I was the only one to blame for this. If I hadn't of killed Miku as Rin had ordered, if I'd somehow helped her to escape to a distant country, or even helped her by taking her to Kaito while she'd still been alive, there would be no problem. If I hadn't of loved Miku so much and foolishly left her for Kaito to discover. Yet there was nothing left for me to do, no way I could reverse time and undo my mistakes, I spent my life wishing to undo mistakes and it came to nothing. So I decided I would simply focus on helping Rin now, as she was all I had left once more.

As I reached the outskirts of the yellow kingdom I slowed my pace to a walk, too languid to continue running. I slipped silently through the kingdom, deciding that this would be the perfect opportunity to discover if the people really were conspiring against the queen. I parted the thick branches of the trees with my hands, scrambling through the dense crowd of Ash trees. I tread carefully, not wanting to snap any twigs that may alert those nearby to my presence. I became careless in my irritation, I was far too hot, and not at all sure what I was meant to be looking for, it wasn't as if they would be holding up signs saying they hated Rin, or wanted to overthrow her. No it wasn't that simple.

In my carelessness I let one of the branches slip from my grasp too quickly, causing the tree I was concealed  
>to shake, scattering a few leaves around me. Two villagers nearby were distracted from their conversation by this sudden movement, they froze to stare my way. I held my breath, not moving, had they noticed me? I lay one of my hands against the rough bark of the tree trunk, digging my nails into it as the tension built. My heart raced fearfully as the edged closer towards me, seeming to be just as wary as I was, they peered through the dense foliage attempting to catch a glimpse at the source of the noise. The pair glanced at one another as if trying to communicate telepathically.<p>

"A squirrel?" One of them suggested in a low and uncertain tone. He raised a concerned eyebrow as he stared at his companion, hoping for confirmation. The other nodded slightly in reply, he visibly relaxed, his shoulders dropping a little. He seemed relieved.

"Or a bird..." The second trailed off, turning back to his companion. He scratched his head nervously as the pair continued to wait for further sign of life within the miniature forest. Satisfied that they were alone once more, they returned to their conversation. I dared not move. My joint ached from the tension within my rigid body; I couldn't relax just yet, not until the men had left.

"...Yes I agree, things round here have gotten bad" I listened to their conversation, hoping for distraction. They seemed to be discussing the state of the Yellow kingdom, about how little money they managed to keep from their work, how high taxes were, and how spoilt the queen was. This made my blood boil. I knew Rin wasn't spoilt, she was just confused, she had caused too much turmoil within the kingdom and didn't know how to fix it. Yet I was becoming more uncertain of my twin's intentions, I wanted to defend her but it was becoming increasingly difficult to find truth in my own thoughts. 

"I hear there's a woman trying to get a group together so she can capture the Princess" Now THIS was what I'd been waiting to hear. The man looked around; making sure no one was within hearing distance before continuing.

" I hear she wants revenge, hear that evil boy that used to come round her killed her father, now she wants revenge" He whispered hurriedly to the other man, who nodded in agreement as if he recognised the story. I frowned waiting for them to continue.

"Oh I heard about that! Imagine that! A woman solider" He snorted in reply as if the idea were insane. I supposed he was right, there were no women soldiers, nor would there ever be, it wasn't a woman's duty to fight a battle that was the job of a man. The other waved dismissively as if the point his friend had made were trivial.

"Yes but come on it's about time someone did something, she's made our lives hell that little girl up there" he growled, jerking his thumb in the general direction of the castle, a look of disgust upon his face. The other man nodded mutually. 

"She calls herself queen; she couldn't have done a worse job if she tried!" He laughed bitterly. "Ye I also hear that the blue kingdom's Prince is against her for what she did to the green kingdom" The man lowered his tone even more as he exposed this information. I wondered how they knew so much, secretly impressed by their knowledge on the situation.

"So if it comes down to it, do you think you'll join the uprising?" One of them finally asked, I leaned in closer, waiting eagerly for a response. The other man paused, taking his time to dwell on the question; he considered it carefully before replying

"Well...I think it'll do a whole lot of good to bring her down but I'm not so sure about being led by a woman soldier, I mean if it were a man I would be there right now" He scratched his chin thoughtfully as he spoke. "If the blue king gets involved then I'll definitely join them, he's got more power than we have" He decided, asking his companion what he would do.

"I'm going to join even if the Prince doesn't involve himself...it's time for change, someone has to bring that girl, and that little assassin boy as well" he spoke monotonously, staring into the distance as he answered. My hand went nervously to my throat, they wanted to kill me as well, I supposed it was only fair since I had committed so many murders, yet I was shocked by his bluntness. Needless to say I was not reassured by what I had heard, and not caring if they heard or even saw me anymore, I stumbled away from the scene in terror, pushing my way through the trees as fast as I could, I tripped countless times. Wondering if I was being pursued.

My fringe clung to my face with sweat, obstructing my vision, I swiped uselessly at it, panting heavily as I did so, I twisted my head round to check behind me, to see if I was being pursued. I cursed in irritation; my hair was preventing me from seeing properly despite my attempts to tuck my tangled fringe behind my ears. I decided to just continue running, if I was being chased this was simply wasting time and slowing me down.

I finally stopped at the edge of the castle, where the mass of trees diminished significantly, clearing a friendly path to the back of the castle. I crouched down, resting my arms against my thighs, letting my head drop a little so that I stared at the grass beneath me. How true the saying the grass really was greener on the other side, only because Rin had people to tend to her garden for her. It was nice to occasionally take my mind away from my many worries and simply gaze at the beauties nature had to offer. An abundance of yellow flowers sprouted around the vast grounds surrounding the castle, after all, we were the yellow kingdom.

I stood once more, allowing the worn hood of my cloak to slip from my head, I could feel my hair had become loose from the amount of running I had done. I sauntered down to the castle, freeing my hair from its messy ponytail and letting the gentle breeze play with it. I held the dark satin ribbon in my mouth while I scraped my hair back once more, into a tighter ponytail this time, before wrapping the ribbon around my hair and tying it into a bow. My mind was screaming at me, telling me to have some urgency, the situation was dire. Yet my heart let itself be deceived by the beauty of the surrounding garden, letting me temporarily believe that everything was going to work out.

I reached the entrance to the kitchen, tugging at the dark cloak as I let myself in. It clung to my skin and clothes, I felt dirty from sweating so much. I managed to pry the cloak from my body, repulsed by the site of the mud and blood incrusted on it. I hadn't realised how filthy my clothes were after an errand. Brushing myself down and hiding my cloak I rushed to the throne room to see Rin.

There she was, just as I'd left her, pacing up and down the vast room, a look of anguish adorning her face. I moved toward her quickly, though what I would say to her yet I didn't know. For what could I say to a queen in distress? That her worst nightmares were true? That her kingdom truly did hate her? I really didn't know what to say, so instead of making an attempt I just hugged her instead. Surprisingly she hugged me back; it wasn't like when were children, it wasn't like being afraid of the dark, or what lurked in the shadows beneath the bed. This was the adult world, and now the monsters were real, only more frightening because they were people who had once respected and looked up to us (well Rin at least).

"So...I was right, they are against me, is this what you are trying to tell me?" She read me like an open book, but I was still too much of a coward to give her a straight answer. I nodded my head stiffly, not wanting to confirm it with words, as if not admitting it meant it wasn't true. What a childish way of looking at an adult situation I thought to myself. She fiddled with a small button on my waistcoat absent mindedly.

"How long do we have?" She asked me casually, how could she act so casual when she could be dead within days, maybe even hours? I turned the question over in my mind, rubbing at my face as I considered everything I'd heard. I sugar coated it I suppose.

"A few days at most" I replied coolly, though inside I was a nervous wreck. That was sugar coating it? Well, the situation certainly was a bleak one. We both jumped as the doors were thrown open wide, I pulled Rin close to me defensively. We both expected it to be an angry mob of villagers, waging war against us. I heard her let out a small cry of fear, I glared at the door, letting my guard down as I saw one of our own guards standing before us. I blushed nervously letting the Princess go, that must have looked bad, I hoped he was one of the few people who knew Rin had a twin. He coughed awkwardly as if he was intruding. Rin regained her composure professionally.

"Y..Yes? You have news for me?" She questioned in an authoritarian tone, smoothing her dress down impatiently. He nodded immediately, I hoped it was good news this time...naturally it wasn't. He advanced towards her; I mentally prepared myself for the worst.

"Your highness...the blue kingdom...they've declared war against us" He stared down at his feet as he told her this, not wanting to meet her eyes. She stumbled backward, as if moving away from the bringer of bad news would stop it from being true. She moved her hands to her ears, attempting to shield herself from it. I pitied her.

"I...I see..." She replied she looked as if she would break at any moment now. I automatically moved to comfort her, as I approached she nudged me, hard with her elbow. Taken aback I was offended, why had she rejected me? The guard cleared his throat uneasily, waiting for instructions it seemed. I was reminded he was there, and realised that was why Rin had stopped me from making physical contact with her. We'd already been caught embracing once, it would only do harm to Rin's reputation to be seen in the arms of her servant again.

"We will fight back with everything we have your highness, at your command of course..." The guard informed her. Of course they would fight back! A sudden thought struck me...they didn't have to fight the blue kingdom, if they so wished they could change sides, the rest of the kingdom seemed to be doing it. This thought ate away at me, if that were the case, surely our defence would decrease significantly.

"Though I'm afraid some of our men have joined the uprising..." The man began, confirming my own thoughts on the matter. "Also, many of the men still with us are recovering from injuries obtained during the battle between the Green Kingdom." He spoke monotonously, he knew as well as I did we had no chance. Unless our kingdom suddenly decided to look up to our Princess once more and help us fight...the yellow kingdom would be gone by this time tomorrow. My hands clenched into fists, I wondered if we had time to sneak Rin out. 

"Oh" was all Rin could manage, she was trembling violently, the reality of the situation seemed to be hitting her hard now. I couldn't believe we could just let Rin be killed! I refused to let it happen. Usually I never spoke or even raised my head when anyone else was in the room, but I had to know why we weren't doing anything to save Rin!

"Why can't we sneak her out of here?" I questioned angrily, looking up to stare at the astonished guard, he obviously hadn't expected me to speak. I was also shaking just as Rin was. I could feel so many emotions pulsing through my body, frustration, denial, anger, fear, helplessness, hope.

"Of course we considered that! It was our first option. The trouble is with our own against us as well they've got all exits surrounded, not just one or two of them, enough to kill" He spoke to me differently than Rin, in a tone of irritation as if I wasn't important...I suppose I wasn't. I frowned, I knew the village well, and knew a lot of secret ways to get in and out, I couldn't believe they had them all covered.

"I'll find one they don't know about" I declared, deciding I would leave straight away to make sure I found a safe one. It was better to make sure before taking Rin, it didn't matter if I died but if she died, there would be no hope.

"Good luck, they've surrounded the place completely, they've covered ways we didn't even know existed until now" He snorted ignorantly as if I were an idiot. My blood boiled, I'd show him. I was a little discouraged, they'd surely have found some of my secret paths, but could they have found all of them? I walked towards the door, determined to find a way to get Rin out. The guard made no effort to stop me, however Rin did.

"Len no! Please! Just stay here; if you die out there...I don't know what I'll do!" She snatched the hem of my shirt in her small hand. I was amazed that she would speak so openly to me when there was another person present. I turned to look down at her; she had tears shimmering in her blue eyes, threatening to fall at any moment. I brushed her dishevelled hair behind her ears and smiled at her reassuringly.

"I promise I'll get you out of this mess, and I won't die along the way okay?" I was half convincing myself, but I plastered a smile upon my face and forced her to let me go. I pried her hand away from my shirt, kissing it as I did so, a little embarrassed to be doing so in front of the man. He shifted uncomfortably at this display of affection, and pretended not to notice. I hugged her quickly, giving her an encouraging wink, before turning away and leaving without looking back.

I fled the castle in a panic, speeding through the gardens into the village. It was eerily silent as I approached the centre; I kept running terrified to stop. If I stopped they'd catch me. If I stopped they'd kill me without hesitation. I darted between houses, desperately trying to remember one of my most unknown trails. Adrenaline fuelled me in my frenzy. As I neared the outskirts of the village I could see them, the stood together brandishing spades, knives, pitchforks. A few of them even had brooms; they wielded whatever form of weapon they had been able to get their hands on. A surprising amount of them had weapons that could actually kill; there was no way I could bring Rin through this way.

I ran for what felt like hours, becoming more and more distressed as I could find no unguarded means of escape. I continued to search, tearing through thick foliage, finally a route that hadn't been discovered! Relief was overtaking me as I peered through the dense trees, only to witness a group of them crowded around a small fire (presumably for warmth) on the other side. My jaw dropped, even if we managed to slip past them they had gone as far as to block the other sides as well! It was hopeless!

I reluctantly gave up, stumbling miserably back to the castle. As I walked through the corridors I spotted a few figures moving quickly back and forth between rooms. I feared the attack had already begun; I would fight them off if that was the case. I crept down the hallway, closer to the intruders. I peered into one of the rooms, and almost leapt from my skin as I was tapped on the shoulder, I'd been caught!

"Len? What are you doing?" The voice of a young woman made me turn on my heel, I imagined the woman soldier the villagers had spoken of standing behind me ready to gut me. I breathed a sigh of relief as I recognised the young woman before me. It was one of the maids; she had her red hair tied in a messy bun. I looked away sheepishly, embarrassed to be caught spying on what turned out to be some of the other servants. I noticed the large bag in her hand; I wondered what was going on. 

"I saw you all rushing around, what's going on?" I asked curiously. The maid, April, blushed, not wanting to meet my gaze. She gripped the handle of the bag more tightly as I questioned her. What could she be hiding from me? One of the gardeners came up behind her; he also had a bag in his hand. I tilted my head, puzzled by their peculiar behaviour.

"Well...uh...we're leaving Len; they'll kill anyone left here to get to Rin..." April trailed off; she knew how I'd feel about this. They were running away! Abandoning Rin! I frowned angrily, how could they be so disloyal? This is exactly what I said to them.

"How could you be so disloyal to our Princess! Her own servants!" I fumed, clenching my fists again, though not intending to hit her. She stuttered attempting to explain herself to me, clearly embarrassed to have been caught. The man, Andrew, gently pushed her aside to confront me himself.

"Look boy, she's never done a thing for us, we're not gonna stay here and die just to buy her some time, they're gonna kill her whatever happens, so why should we all die along the way if we can avoid it?" His tone was firm; he wasn't going to be dissuaded. I was furious! I wanted to argue back, but I knew there was nothing I could do or say to change their minds. I looked down the corridor to see a small group of them with bags, obviously waiting for April and Andrew to join them. I turned back at him to glare; they'd been planning this for days surely.

"Are you coming or not?" He questioned. I was shocked, he was one of the few who knew that Rin was my twin, how could he possibly expect me to leave her? I didn't care what she'd done, I'd done it with her, and I'd stay with her until the end. The shock must have shown clearly in my expression as he spoke;

"I know she's your sister and you want to look out for her, but I have a sister to look out for as well" He gestured to April standing quietly behind him, her head hung shamefully. My anger subsided a little, he also had a sister to take care of, I understood they all had family to save as well. I shook my head, I refused to abandon Rin in her time of need...I'd made a promise hadn't I? 

"No, I'm not coming with...I have to look after Rin, even if it is hopeless" I spoke sincerely. We nodded, gazing mutually at one another, we both understood the others decision. He smiled sadly at me, taking his sister's hand and preparing to leave.

"Good luck..." I wasn't sure what else to say to them, I wasn't particularly close to any of them, so I couldn't think of anything more heartfelt to say. I hoped they would survive...I bid them farewell, letting go of my last chance of escape, not wanting it. 

I spotted the same guard that had come to Rin earlier as I entered the throne room; it seemed he had stayed to take care of her. He seemed like a nice man. The pair looked up at me hopefully, Rin more so than the man. I hung my head grimly; I didn't think I could bear seeing the look of disappointment upon Rin's pretty face. I heard her let out a small sob, she covered her mouth to prevent herself from falling apart.

"I'm so sorry Rin, I looked everywhere but it seems they really have got us surrounded" I spoke quietly, as if such words would harm her. I looked to the guard; he nodded at me simply, taking that as his cue to exit now that I had returned.

"We will do our best for you Princess Rin, we will inform you when the attack has begun" He declared before rushing from the room, presumably to consult his comrades. Rin was slumped in her throne, she ran her fingers along the arm rests, she knew it could be the last time she sat there. It broke my heart to think it could all be over tomorrow. She looked so small and fragile as she sat there, a broken soul. I knelt down in front of her, taking her little hand in my own and stroking it comfortingly with my thumb. I smiled at her, not that it helped. She gazed at me, her misery plain to see on her contorted face.

"Let's go to bed" I said simply, offering the only solution I could for the time being. I doubted the blue kingdom would attack now, it was late, and an attack at such a time would be too risky, even for them. She didn't bother to reply as I scooped her up in my arms as if she were a child, and carried her up to her bedroom. She was tolerant as she let me undress her and pull a nightgown over her head. I dressed her as I knew she wouldn't do it herself if I left her alone. She sat motionless, processing all of the information that had been thrown upon her.

She didn't seem to register what was going on around her, or just didn't care what I did anymore. I brushed her fluffy hair out in an attempt to sooth her, it made no difference to her.  
>I lay her down in her king-size bed, pulling the cover over her, tucking her in. She stared up at me now, silently begging me not to leave her alone. As if I would do such a thing!<p>

Too afraid to leave her alone, even if only to retrieve some different clothes. I pulled my boots off, placing them neatly by the door, before beginning to unbutton my shirt. She stared at me a little fearfully, though what she expected of me I didn't know. I took my shirt off, draping it over a chair, and slipping into the bed beside her. We stared at one another for a long long time, silently sharing memories, knowing that this would be the last night we slept together. Maybe even the last few hours we would have alone together.

"Len" Rin breathed tearfully, finally breaking the silence. I pulled her towards me, cradling her small body against my bare chest. She didn't seem fazed by this. She wrapped her arms around my waist, sobbing into my chest. I kissed the top of her head, feeling a few tears roll down my own cheeks. I willed myself to be strong; Rin had cared for me when I'd been upset, now it was my turn. I had to be the strong one and not cry. She cried in a way I'd never heard a person cry before. Her whimpers were the sound of pure misery. So this was how a dying person cried. She knew she would die, there was no way around it, and it broke my heart to see her so distraught. I couldn't protect her this time.

"I'm sorry I haven't kept my promise" I apologised in a soft low whisper; I choked on my own words. She shivered fearfully, curling up and moving closer to me. What could I say to console someone who knew they were going to die? The silence between us was almost painful.

"I don't want to die Len" It sounded so childish, her voice seemed so small and helpless. She breathed shakily as she clung to me. "I'm so scared" She whispered sadly, even her voice wavered as she trembled. Oh it was killing me! I couldn't protect her this time!

The night dragged, we lay in one another's arms, dozing on and off, neither of us actually slept. We napped for a few hours at a time, maybe not even that long. Any noises we heard made us jump. Every sound seemed to be the enemy coming to claim our lives. The hours stretched out endlessly. We were both delirious from lack of sleep, whispering to one another that we heard them climbing the staircase, moving down the halls towards us. I was practically lying on top of Rin in an attempt to shield her from any intruders.


	12. Chapter 12

When dawn finally ended the night, we lay beside one another staring up at the ceiling. For once we were in no hurry to get up. Though inevitably we did arise, Rin changed into a clean dress, and I simply wore the same outfit as I had the day before. It didn't matter to me what I wore anymore, we had both resigned ourselves to fate and expected to die today. We descended the staircase hand in hand, our yellow fingernails reflecting one another. Today we didn't care who knew we were twins. It made absolutely no difference to anything anymore.

The day dragged the same as the night had. We waited for hours on end in the throne room, anxiously awaiting the news that the battle had begun. The waiting alone was painful, and we spent these hours in silence, not knowing what to say to one another anymore. At lunch time I prepared some tea and sandwiches for Rin. As I presented this to her on a silver tray she smiled up at me, finally something familiar.

"Oh, it's tea time" She smiled sadly, trying to imitate some of her old happiness. I smiled at her, sharing the feeling. Understandably she wasn't hungry, and she nibbled aimlessly away at the tiny sandwiches. She managed one small triangle shaped slice, and half a cup of tea. She uncharacteristically offered me some of her food, I accepted it gratefully, realising I hadn't had time to eat properly in days. Despite my own worries I managed to finish the sandwiches that Rin didn't want. After this I took the dished back to the kitchen, leaving them to be cleaned. I remembered seeing the woman who washed the dishes fleeing earlier. I returned to Rin and placed a hand on her shoulder to steady the both of us. I wanted her to know I wasn't going anywhere. It was difficult, everything we did felt like it was being done for the very last time, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of loss at this, even though I hadn't lost anything yet.

Finally, late afternoon, we received news from a frantic messenger that the blue kingdom had attacked, and that our own people were beginning to join in. Now it was a matter of counting down the minutes. Fear gripped my heart as the hours passed, we could hear them through the walls of the castle, and were able to tell that they were getting closer all the time.  
>Rin succumbed to tears of terror, I sat her on my lap, cuddling her, reminding her of all the good times we'd had. How we'd played as children, how I'd made her tiaras and pretended she was a princess.<p>

Screams everywhere as the remaining servants fled the castle, leaving the two of us alone. For the time being at least. The battle was moving closer, our soldiers surely couldn't hold out much longer. I gently rocked Rin back and forth as chaos ensued around us, destroying our home from the outside. More screaming as people outside were ruthlessly cut down. I was numb to it as I held Rin in my arms for the last time. I sung quietly to her, pretending the destruction around us wasn't taking place.

"You're forever my lady as I am your servant, the cruel hand of destiny broke up two beautiful twins" I sang softly to her, a song that mirrored our situation perfectly. Another loud sound from outside, perhaps a turret being broken down. "And I'll love you forever no matter what we do" I continued gently. She sighed. It would all be over soon, no doubt about it. It was getting dark; night was upon us once more. The sound of the gate being torn down at last made me wince. I could hear the enemies swiftly making their way through the gardens, slashing away at the beautifully arranged foliage as if it were nothing.

I shut my eyes tight willing it all away. In my mind I retreated back to the time Rin and I had shared on the beach that day, the day I'd made that promise to her. Why hadn't I kept it? Now was truly her time of need. If only I could dress her as me once more and sneak her away to the beach again, to stare out at the sea, to have no worries...An idea. I opened my eyes, back to reality, they were so close. Yet I finally had an idea, though if it were to work we had to hurry. I seemed to be stuck in a sitting position cradling Rin, I shook her gently, waking her from a slumber I hadn't even know she'd been in. I had to make her listen; understand in such a short space of time!

"Rin! Stand up please!" I urged her, shoving her from my lap. She got to her feet wearily, staring at me emotionlessly. I looked her up and down, we were about the same size still, I was a little taller, but not enough for it to be noticeable unless I was standing beside her. She blushed as I inspected her, she covered her chest instinctively, she swayed uneasily on her feet. It wasn't the best idea, but it was the only one I had, the only one that could possibly work!

"Rin, I have an idea that could save your life if you do exactly what I say, you have to promise me now that you'll do what I say!" I spoke hurriedly, and she blinked at me in confusion, tilting her head as I always did. Alike in so many ways, it could work. Sure I didn't have her hips, or her feminine chest, but I had to try.

"I promise?" She said uncertainly, her voice was croaky from staying silent for so long. I smiled at her; sure I could save her this way. Oh it had to work! I began to remove my clothes as quickly as I possibly could. She blushed deep red, clearly startled by my sudden actions.

"What on earth are you doing?" She gasped as I removed my pants so that I stood in my underwear. I yanked her arm pulling her towards me, turning her around so that I could undo her dress.

"Len!" She gasped making and attempt to slap me, clearly horrified by my behaviour.

"Rin, remember when we were kids, I'd let you borrow my clothes so we could get you out of the castle for a while?" I asked quickly, unlacing her corset hastily.

"...yes" She answered slowly, beginning to see what I was thinking, as she now let me finish unlacing her back.

"Well that's what we're going to do now, except I'll be wearing your clothes this time as well" I wrenched the dress off her body, ploughing my way through her petticoats, if I was going to masquerade properly I would need to take all of her clothes. What would they say if they found the queen wearing men's underwear.

"What?" Clearly Rin hadn't been expecting this little twist. She shoved my hands away modestly, hesitantly removing her undergarments herself. Now was not the time for modesty though.

"There has to be a Princess here for them to capture, if there isn't they'll eventually find us anyway and kill us both, if they think they have the Princess they won't bother searching for the servant boy" I helped her into my own clothes. She stumbled a little as I helped her into the pants; she had never worn pants before and seemed out of her comfort zone.

"Len you can't!" She cried as I began to pull the layers of petticoats over my own head.

"No, I must, it's the only way I can keep my promise and save your life" I pulled her dress over my head, smoothing it down into place. I beckoned for her to help me with the laces at the back, which she did despite her disapproval of my plan. 

"Len they'll kill you" Her voice broke on the world kill, and she began to cry again. They had broken through the doors, the castle was big, but it wouldn't take them long at all to find us here. I remembered my hair, pulling the bow from it quickly so it resembled Rin's; I quickly tied her hair up as I would mine. I fumbled a few times as fear consumed me. I grabbed her roughly by the shoulders giving her the final instruction.

"I want you to escape, the old kitchen, run there, grab my black cloak and leave that way, don't try to leave the kingdom yet, just get out of here, lay low" I ordered her. She shook her head, babbling she wouldn't leave me; she didn't care about the promise. Well I did. I smiled warmly at her; I had to get her out of her quickly. I cupped her soft face in my hands, kissing her pink lips gently before speaking again; this calmed her down a little.

"I love you Rin, I couldn't have asked for a better twin, but now I want you to leave, please do what I say" I spoke to her softly, she looked so fragile. She hesitated, a loud crashing noise making her move more quickly. She sniffed as tears flowed down her pale cheeks.

"I love you too" She whispered sadly, finally turning to leave as I had instructed, she sprinted from the room leaving me alone with my thoughts. I prayed that she would survive. I'd never felt so alone. I remained standing; I would play the role of Rin as best as I could. I had to convince them I was the real Princess; I couldn't allow them to think I wasn't. The plan would only work if they accepted me as Rin. I trembled as they neared; I doubted they would kill me on the spot. They would torture me for my crimes. I wasn't Rin, but I felt I deserved the punishment; I had committed many sins myself, worse than my twin. Besides, if she was evil, so was I, we were twins, we had the same blood running through our veins. Evil blood. Not that I believe Rin was evil really, she could never be evil.

The doors burst open, a woman in red armour and a man clad in blue stood triumphantly at the door. My heart was racing with fear, never had I been so scared before in my life. Still I had to put on a good show, had to convince them...I knew both of these people I realised as they advanced towards me, brandishing swords. Perhaps they would kill me immediately; perhaps I was too evil to be kept alive any longer. Meiko, the daughter of the first man I'd killed. I hardly recognised her. Her once long hair that had reached her mid-back had been sliced off, so that it was now level with her nape. Her eyes were clouded over with hatred as she stared at me. Kaito, he had no wounds to suggest he had been fighting; only his dishevelled appearance gave this away. He glared at me hatefully, just as Meiko did.

Meiko went round behind me, I allowed her to bind my hands together with rope. It cut deeply into my wrists, she pulled it tight. She held me still, not that she needed to, I wasn't going anywhere. I donned an emotionless mask as I expected Rin would in such a situation. She would never let them see her fear. I stared coolly at Kaito, though on the inside I was crying out.

He brandished the sword, placing the sharp tip against my throat, letting it tear my skin a little so it bled. It hurt a lot for such a small cut. Needless to say I was terrified, yet I kept my cool and smiled cruelly up at him. What would Rin say? He was buying it s far; he really believed I was Rin. How disrespectful to treat a princess this way... 

"You're such a disrespectful man!" I hissed spitefully at him. If I was going to die I saw no point in pretending to like this horrid man. Sucking up would get me nowhere, and tears would only satisfy him more. He was sneering down at me, relishing in my, well, Rin's downfall. I glanced at Meiko now pacing beside me. She didn't remove her gaze from me, even as she paced. Unlike Kaito she didn't smile at my downfall, she seemed frosted over, her expression towards me cold, but not mocking. I remembered the day I had killed Meiko's father, I remember her crying out his name in pain. I'd really hurt her and now...I was getting what I deserved. I realised I was beginning to think too much like myself again, I had to think like Rin. If I were Len I would break, cry, beg for forgiveness. Rin would never act in such a way, she was royalty, and royalty didn't need or bow to anyone.

"Finally your reign of evil is over; you will pay for what you've done to everyone." He had his hand raised as if he meant to strike me. I glared up at him, would he really hit a young girl? Especially one who was a princess? Oh how I hated this man, not only was he ready to overthrow my sister, but he seemed quite willing to beat her as well. I was certain now that I had not made a mistake trading places with her, I would never want her to be treated in such a way. Finally Kaito's gaze shifted from me to Meiko, I relaxed ever so slightly, knowing that neither of them was watching me.

"Take her Meiko, we must throw her in the dungeons, then we will announce to everyone that the battle is over, we have won." He smiled triumphantly, the sort of smile I knew would make the real Rin melt. The thought enraged me, what did she see in this vile man? I was thrust forward by Meiko; she gripped my bound wrists tightly. I winced a little as she dug her nails into my arms. I squeaked slightly in pain, Kaito sneered at me once more before turning to leave.

"I believe the dungeons are down that way Meiko, I shall announce our success to the people, you lock her away." He spoke rudely about me, as if I weren't even present in the room! He smiled at her before turning away from her, going back the way he'd come. I got the impression that the pair had been planning this for a while, yet how a prince and a simple village girl had met I'll never know...then again Miku had been a simple village girl as well...Miku...no I couldn't think of her right now, it made me too emotional. I was kicked violently in the leg, making me cry out.

"Move!" Meiko growled, kneeing me again, forcing me into motion. I wanted to scurry away, but that was what the servant would do. The princess would keep her composure and glide gracefully, even if it was to the dungeons. So this is what I did. Mimicking my princess, I moved slowly towards the dungeons. Despite Meiko's kicks and bellows, I maintained this until we reached the bottom of the stairs and was standing in the dungeons below. She roughly unbound my hands, I would've rubbed them with relief, however I was thrown forward violently, landing face down on the cold cobbles of the prison cell floor. My knees throbbed painfully; even through the layers of petticoats beneath the dress I had felt the impact of my fall. I made a move to pull myself up, but was kicked in the side. My hands went to my ribs in some sort of attempt to ease the pain. I could feel angry tears in my eyes, not because I'd never been beaten before, but at the thought that it could be my twin in this position instead of me! I stared up at Meiko furiously, only to see she had a hand over her mouth. She seemed to be struggling to hold her own tears in. My anger cooled and subsided. I wondered what was going on with her. She turned away from me, a foolish move really since I could easily have made an attempt to attack her. However I wasn't about to do that, I had to surrender to them or else Rin may end up being in such a position soon enough. I could see her armoured body shaking a little as she held herself together. She spun back round to face me. A few tears of pain escaped from her red eyes. I must've been staring at her with sympathy, as she brought her hand down on the side of my head. My vision blurred as she did so, making me feel ill. I shut my eyes, trying to ease my nausea.

"Don't look at me with sympathy! You're the one who's going to die, just like my father, YOU'RE the reason he's dead!" She shrieked at me, her voice breaking as her cool composure broke. She seized a handful of my hair, yanking at it. I was terrified, I knew I was going to die at some point but what was she going to do to me now? My hands instinctively went to my head; she pulled hard at my hair. I screamed, ordering her to release me, only making her pull harder. I was certain she would pull my hair out by the roots if she continued. I was relieved to hear the low voice of Kaito addressing her.

"Release her Meiko, she's not worth it" He spoke monotonously, I could tell he didn't mean this. He longed to harm me just as much as she did; he hated me for what I'd done to Miku. Meiko reluctantly obeyed him, throwing me to the floor once more. I breathed a sigh of relief, glowering up at the pair. Kaito put a comforting arm around her, carefully avoiding her metal armour. I wondered if there was something between the two of them. She wiped at her watery eyes, regaining her cool.

"Why don't you search for the key to this cell, I want to speak with princess Rin alone." He said the word 'princess' mockingly. Meiko nodded, making her way further down the dungeons, searching for some sign of a key. I knew where the keys were yet I didn't want to make it too easy for them. He peered around the corner to make sure Meiko was a reasonable distance away from us before looking down at me with disgust once more.

"Don't look at me with such distaste, I am still royalty" I attempted to copy Rin's way of speaking, her own voice. I was fortunate my voice hadn't broken yet or else this would have been a very difficult task.

"Look little girl, you are no longer considered royalty, you have no rights now, you're a prisoner in your own castle." He spoke to me as if he were bored. I laughed a little, oh how ironic. Rin had been a prisoner in her own castle for years now, what difference did this make? Even more ironic, they believed Rin was a prisoner now, yet she was now more free than she'd ever been before, they had the wrong prisoner.

"This is no laughing matter, you obviously don't understand the seriousness of the situation" Kaito spoke seriously. If only he knew. But he would never know, that was the way it had to be. "You will be executed tomorrow afternoon at three o' clock, in front of your people, they deserve to know your reign of terror is over" He declared. Yet it seemed he had something else to say, something he was reluctant to speak about perhaps.

"So your servant has abandoned you, not so loyal then is he? Just as well really, if he were here I'd kill him as well for what he did to Miku, but he's not worth hunting down." He laughed spitefully at me. Yet I found I was also laughing, oh he really was buying it! He thought I'd abandoned Rin, when the reality was I had made the ultimate sacrifice for her. He shook his head at me, obviously believing I had succumbed to insanity.

"We shall see how funny this is tomorrow at the guillotine!" He declared, leaving me once more, shutting the cell door behind him. He waited patiently for Meiko to return, I wondered if she'd find the key at all, it was hidden in a discrete place, beneath one of the loose cobbled at the bottom of the stairs. To my amazement after what I guessed to be half an hour she returned with the ring of keys. Now all they had to do was figure out which key fit this particular cell. They chattered between themselves, making no attempt to acknowledge my presence. After a few attempts with various keys, we heard the metallic click of the key in the lock. Kaito shook the gate a little, making sure that it was securely locked before motioning to Meiko to follow him. Before they left I saw her loop the tiny rung of the keys to her sword holster. Any chanced of me escaping were gone now.


	13. Chapter 13

I sat alone in the dark, suddenly terrified. I was going to die tomorrow. It's funny; the dark always seems to make a situation worse. Fears grow in your mind, causing you to panic. Crazy thoughts ran through my mind, I could take this dress off, and tomorrow I would confess that I wasn't really Rin, they'd free me and I'd live! I'd never sin again, if only I could live. Then I imagined my dear twin facing the guillotine. No I would never put her life in danger; it had been a selfish thought. I sat on the small stool that was placed carelessly in the corner of the cell. The many skirts and petticoats I wore spilled over the edges, completely covering the stool itself. I stared through the tiny window above me, its thick black bars preventing an escape attempt. The starts shone brightly that night, as if celebrating the downfall of an evil princess. Not that I believed she was evil, I'd never believed she was truly evil, misunderstood maybe, but not evil. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise all of a sudden. The hairs on my arms did the same, I felt on edge and I wasn't sure why. I peered nervously around the cell, I felt as if I was being watched, but seeing no one, I felt even more uneasy.

I noticed a silver hairbrush lying on the floor. My blood ran cold. The color drained from my face. That was the same hairbrush I'd used to groom Miku's hair that day...This had been her cell. This had been the cell she'd stayed in and I hadn't even noticed until now. She'd died in this cell. I'd never given spirits and ghosts much thought before, but now...I felt very uneasy and I couldn't help but contemplate the thought that she may be with me in spirit perhaps. In a way this made me feel a little more at ease for many reasons. To start with I didn't feel so lonely now, as if she were here to comfort me. It also told me that there was some sort of life beyond death...I wondered what would come after my execution. I shivered; I didn't want to think about that right now. So instead my thoughts turned to Rin. I wondered where she was right now, I wondered if she'd found somewhere to spend the night. I prayed she'd be safe. I prayed she'd fight off anyone who dared to harm her.

I moved away from the stool, accidently ripping part of Rin's gown on the leg, frowning at it. I slumped down in the same corner I'd often found Miku in, smiling a little at the thought of her beautiful face smiling up at me. That was history now, she was gone. Yet I had hope, if I died we could finally be together. Maybe death wasn't so bad after all. I began to drift off into a dreamless sleep, comforted significantly by the thought of seeing my beautiful Miku again...

When I awoke my back ached from sitting all night, I'd fallen asleep in a sitting position causing my head to loll at an awkward position. I rubbed my neck with my hand. I still felt drowsy, and it took a few minutes for me to register the situation. Oh, I was still in this dank little cell. I sighed, peering up at the window, but blinded by the bright rays of sunshine trickling through between the bars. Typical weather in the Yellow kingdom. I pulled irritably at the petticoats beneath Rin's dress; I wasn't used to wearing so many layers!

Various people came in and out of the dungeons that day, I paid little to no attention to them, too wrapped up in my own final thoughts. I lay in the corner like a limp rag-doll, not responding to anything anyone had to say to me. It was all insults anyway. As the time drew nearer messengers were sent down to inform me how many hours I had left. I had accepted my Fate at this point, and was preparing myself mentally for what was to come. A harsh light reflected from an object in the cell, shining in my eyes, blinding me momentarily. I glanced in the direction of the light source, and felt a dull pain as I spotted the dagger I'd used to murder Miku. I clenched my fists, I wanted to be strong, today I didn't want to cry. I wasn't dying because I HAD to; I was dying so that I could save Rin. I didn't want to cry, crying would make me feel regret, a feeling I didn't wish to feel today. I didn't regret my decision. I didn't.

I smiled sadly to myself as I stared out of the little window of the cell. Still such a nice day. Not the kind of day for an execution...I shut my eyes picturing my twin. The thought of her calmed me a lot. The two of us had done a lot of terrible things to our Kingdom, as much as I wanted to, there was no denying that. I was a murderer of innocent people. Rin needlessly executed and jailed innocent people, driving them to poverty. I supposed we deserved a punishment. Our evil deeds had finally caught up with us. Yet now as I sat awaiting my death, I couldn't picture my sister as evil. Even as I imagined her sitting at the thrown, laughing smiling at another person's capture...she still didn't look evil to me. I could picture her innocent smile, her laugh, as I served her tea. Back then she'd been my lovely, adorable, precious sibling. Actually, she would always be precious to me, I knew even when I was dead, wherever I was sent, she would always be special to me, I loved her so much! It was overwhelming. I shut my eyes again, and I was there holding her hand, and as I opened them I was crying. My tears weren't tears of fear though; they were tears of joy, and love. Oh, I hadn't wanted to cry, but I was smiling! I cried thinking of my beloved twin, oh how I loved her! It was only occurring to me now, just how strong the bond between twins was. How deep my love and respect for Rin was. I'd done everything in life for her, and I'd loved doing it! All of it. So, it was only fitting really...to die for her as well.

I jumped as a guard stood by the door of my cell. He'd come to collect me. He reminded me a little of the grim reaper, calling me to my death. He entered his face like an emotionless mask. I quickly wiped my tears away; I didn't want anyone to know I'd been crying, they'd think I was scared. No, I wasn't scared anymore. He snatched my arm, roughly pulling me to my feet. I allowed him to bind my hands together behind my back. I stared at the rusted iron bars running up and down the gate of the cell. Goodbye cell, goodbye Miku. I wondered if Miku's soul really was here...I hadn't felt her presence again. Still, I silently bid her farewell as I wouldn't pass her final resting place on my final walk. When the guard was satisfied I wasn't able to wriggle free, her wrapped his large fingers around my arm, leading me out of the prison cell. I noticed the guard was wearing blue...The yellow kingdom was finished.

I was lead through the castle halls, and each hall we walked through held memories. I was drowning in memories. That was the hall where Rin had been ill once...we cried in that room when our parents died...Rin lost her first tooth in there...we used to love reading in that room... Rin Rin Rin. All of my memories were of Rin. It hurt now, to think we'd never see one another again, I'd never hold her in my arms again. I'd never whisper to her that we'd be ok. I'd never see her grow up; I'd never see her marry. I'd never get to kiss her pregnant belly, and tell her that uncle Len would help her raise her children. I'd never get to make another tiara for her, or for my niece. I'd never be able to sing to her. I'd never be able to laugh with her. I'd never be able to cry with her. I'd never be able to protect her again. I'd never get to see her smile again.

I stared in shock at the destruction outside. I realised I hadn't seen the exterior of the castle since the battle. The fragrant fields of yellow flowers had been killed in the chaos. The field was left scattered with tattered and ripped petals. The bodies of soldiers, our soldiers mainly, lay lifeless on the ground. Blood, everywhere there was blood stains. Crumbling rubble from our own home was dotted around the battlefield. Armour as well. The armour of dead men. I shivered at the horrific scene around me. I hoped Rin would not have to lay eyes upon the horror. I was forced to keep walking, and at this point felt very low. Our kingdom had been destroyed! Though somehow through all of the misery that lay before me, something caught my eye. A single yellow flower stood not far from me. A little limp looking, but it stood tall above the others. One had survived...a little smile graced my lips. Yes, this flower for me symbolised Rin. My Rin. Amongst all of those who had died, Rin was the one who would live, even if she had some scars from the fight, she would be the one to carry on. I knew this now, this was surely a sign. I looked up at the sky as we moved, thanking God for showing me this sign, telling me that Rin was alright.

Ironic. Church bells resounded as I was led up the wooden steps to the guillotine. The same church bells that had announced our birth. People fussed around me, positioning my head properly beneath the sharp blade of the guillotine. There was a crowd; they had all come to witness the evil princess' death. It seemed many of them had been waiting here for hours as the shifted impatiently. I received a few 'boo's as I was prepared. However, most of the people were respectful; they stood silently, scorning me not with words, but with their stares. It was rare for one so young to be executed, and so it seemed many of them though hostile towards me, didn't really wish to see me die. My heart was racing with fear; I'd never been this frightened before. There was no turning back now. I almost feel the keen edge of the blade suspended above me. I was shaking ever though my hands were tied behind my back, I clasped them together fearfully. I thought I would surely faint from fear! Now we waited, it had to be exactly three before they would drop the blade.

I sensed something. I instinctively looked into the crowd, and there she was. My eyes widened as I spotted her, my twin. Her eyes looked red beneath the hood of my cloak. She was crying, already she was crying. I didn't want her to see this! Oh but to know she was really alive! To see her beautiful face in the crowd! I felt at ease, as if she were comforting me. Our eyes met, and I could see her body convulsing with another sob. Then the bells chimed again. This time to announce it was three o' clock. Our gazes held, I could see the sheer horror on her face, it was time. I smiled at her in a daze, as if to tell her it was alright, she'd be alright now, I held no ill feelings towards her. I heard the guillotine operator be given the word. A silent tear slipped down my cheek. Then I heard the rope, releasing the blade.

"Oh, it's tea time" I uttered, and I felt it! The terrible blade slicing through the back of my neck. I uttered a small cry as I heard Rin scream. Searing pain. Nothing else.

_And, if we can be reborn again, I'd like it if that time we could be together again._


	14. Chapter 14

A sharp intake of breath caused me to awaken. I'd been remembering, re-living my past life... I opened my eyes once more staring around at the darkness surrounding me. Now I understood, I understood how I'd come to be here. I...I'm dead. A shiver ran up my spine. I was in limbo it seemed, for this did not look anything like heaven, yet it wasn't what I imagined to be hell either. I was here to pay for my crimes. It seemed only fair after what I'd done. I'd murdered all of those people. I sat in shock. So that's why I had recognised that voice earlier, it had been Miku! My beloved Miku scolding me for killing her so terribly. A light drew my attention away from my thoughts, I stared down at my wrists in astonishment the light was encasing my wrists! Could I still feel fear if I was dead? Well...I felt something similar to the feeling of...well fear! What on Earth is happening to me? Now the light was beginning to dim, and as it did I witnessed my wrists being bound, yet again, but only this time with handcuffs! Red handcuffs, what could this possibly mean?

These red handcuffs symbolise the blood you spilt... Miku's voice wrung through my head. Part of my punishment was to wear these handcuffs? I could almost picture Meiko in my mind, cradling the body of her dead father. I watched as a long red chain grew from each cuff, trailing down along the floor, off into the distance as far as I could see. Only I was distracted again, as another light appeared. I bit my bottom lip nervously, oh what could be happening to me now? An incandescent light encircled my ankles, the same way it had done to my wrists.  
>The light dimmed more rapidly this time, and left in its place were two shackles. I gasped upon seeing them; somehow I'd expected something else to have appeared. Now what could these be for?<p>

These blue shackles represent the tears shed by those you hurt... Miku's voice echoed through my mind once more, along with an image of Kaito crying over Miku's corpse. The vision faded as quickly as it has appeared, and now I was left alone in the dark once more. I waited, expecting something else to appear and strike me down perhaps. Nothing came. I'm not sure how long I simply lay there expecting something before I realised nothing was going to occur. Hours, days, I really couldn't say, time passed in its own way in this place. A second could stretch itself out into a minute, I'm not entirely sure how I knew this, since a minute was a minute as I knew it, but somehow I just...knew. Due to such confusion I lay there on my back, staring up at the spring above me for what could have been decades or even centuries for all I know. 

I found I was in pain all the time, an aching throb in my chest. As if my soul were bleeding from the corruption of the sins I had committed, if that makes sense. I slipped in and out of a sleep like state once more, always dreaming of my lovely twin. My dreams were always memories as well, nothing new was created. I just keep viewing events from my life, as if I was watching it on a screen of some sort, and I was powerless to intervene or change anything. I could often trick myself into believing that these dreams were 'real', and that I was really there with Rin, doing one thing or another. However, I always felt bitter, depressed, and painfully lonely. I guess this was my time of punishment, and it seemed to last for many many many years.

One day, what I believed to be millenniums later, a faint sound reached my ears. At first I assumed it was my imagination fooling me again, that I was slipping into another state of believing I was still alive. The sound began to grow louder. It wasn't unpleasant in anyway, in fact it was soothing. As it continued on I opened my eyes for the first time in a very long time, and searched around for some indication to the source of the sound. There was none. As my hearing became more acute once more, I realised that the noise was a song, and that it sounded like someone was singing it. The words weren't distinguishable, the words melted together in my ears, becoming one long melody. I didn't particularly care what the words were, just to hear something pleasant was encouraging. I gently closed my eyes again, allowing myself to melt in the soft melody. The tune was sung in soprano, so I got the impression that the singer was a girl.

I smiled up at the spring suspended above me. The spring that never changed, and never moved. I wonder how long I've been here now? I silently asked the never changing spring. I still hadn't regained the power of speech, even when I attempted to speak, nothing came out. I couldn't even feel the vibration of my own vocal cords. I assumed this was part of my punishment, I used to love singing to Rin, it used to comfort me as well, but now...Still, each 'day' that passed I felt a little better. The gentle melody seemed to come and go. Sometimes it surrounded me, flowing through my body, making me feel as if I were being healed by the gentle melody. Every day my heart seemed a little less heavy, my guilt a little less consuming. It was almost refreshing, like I was floating on air; oh I hadn't felt this good in a long time. 

The song stayed with me for what once again seemed like years. Though it was only one day, ages after I had first noticed it that I finally began to understand the lyrics. The words began to separate themselves; the tune seemed to slow itself down so that my ears could pick out words. I seemed to catch the word wish a lot, though this held no significance for me. So I continued to allow the feelings in the song fill me up and heal my aching soul. Until one day...the words became clear to me, the song was distinguishable to me at last, and what a shock the words were!

_On the edge of a small port__  
><em>_in a small town__  
><em>_is a girl who stands quietly...__  
><em>_She stares out to the sea__  
><em>_that holds her memories__  
><em>_a story that she cannot tell..._

__

_"Let's write a wish on paper and send it out to sea"_

At this point I recognised the voice...

_"If it doesn't break then surely there..."_

Could it really be...? 

_"Will be a wish granted"_

Rin?

_Floating away__  
><em>_Is a little glass bottle__  
><em>_that holds the wishes of two children__  
><em>_as it fades into the horizon__  
><em>_without a sound to be heard..._

Surely she was singing about the wish we'd made together! The wish that had come true...

_Always you did those things for me__  
><em>_Even though they were troublesome__  
><em>_I've realised that I've only been selfish__  
><em>_and hurt you for so long_

It hurt to hear her say those words! Even if the task had been difficult I never disliked working for Rin! Surely she knew that! Yet...I supposed she had hurt me, but I didn't care, she hadn't done it intentionally...

_You were the only one who would hear me__  
><em>_but you're no longer here!_

Oh she was crying for me! She was all alone and there was nothing I could do to help her!

_The sea will express my gratitude...__  
><em>_It will express my only wish..._

Ah...she was thanking me. I could feel myself crying again. She appreciated me! She really did! It touched me deeply to know she really had cared, and that she really did appreciate my efforts.

_Floating away__  
><em>_is a little glass wish__  
><em>_that holds the regrets of a girl__  
><em>_who finally saw how she had sinned__  
><em>_However she couldn't repent..._

I smiled to myself. So she'd finally seen the error of her ways, and now she was thanking me, and also apologizing. Oh if only I could tell her I heard her! That she didn't need to apologize, because I understood perfectly why she did everything, and that I wouldn't have done the things I'd done if I didn't want to help her.

_Floating away__  
><em>_Is a little glass bottle__  
><em>_that holds the wishes of two children__  
><em>_as it fades into the horizon__  
><em>_without a sound to be heard..._

__

_Floating away__  
><em>_is a little glass wish__  
><em>_that holds the regrets of a girl__  
><em>_If only we could be re-born again..._

That had been my last thought before I'd died, if only we could be reborn again. She wanted us to be together once more as well. I shut my eyes tight, absorbing all of the information. So this wonderful song had been her apology and thank you as well. She continued to sing to me, as if her gentle voice were on a continuous loop. I listened contended enough; I listened and listened until I knew the song by heart. Then I decided to add my own words, as some sort of an answer.

_Sitting alone in a dark room__  
><em>_is a young boy who listens patiently__  
><em>_He stares up at the spring__  
><em>_that holds much mystery__  
><em>_the story of his life_

__

_"Let's write a wish on paper and send it out to sea"__  
><em>_"If it doesn't break then surely there..."__  
><em>_"Is a wish granted"__  
><em>_I sang in unison with her, well in my mind._

__

_Floating away__  
><em>_is a little glass bottle__  
><em>_that contained the wishes of two children__  
><em>_It faded away into the horizon__  
><em>_only to come true_

__

_I always did those things for you__  
><em>_but not because they were troublesome__  
><em>_you never were selfish to me__  
><em>_and I loved you so_

__

_I'm still able to listen to you now__  
><em>_I'm still with you in spirit__  
><em>_you never needed to apologize__  
><em>_because I already know..._

__

_Floating away__  
><em>_Is a little glass wish__  
><em>_That holds the regrets of a girl__  
><em>_Who doesn't know how much she's loved__  
><em>_Even if she has sinned..._

__

_Floating away__  
><em>_is a little glass bottle__  
><em>_that contained the wishes of two children__  
><em>_It faded away into the horizon__  
><em>_only to come true_

__

_Floating away__  
><em>_is a little glass wish__  
><em>_that holds the regrets of a girl__  
><em>_I know one day we'll be reborn..._

As I came up with these lyrics I became more confident, why would I be able to hear her if the last line weren't true? Surely we'd both meet again...surely...

Time passed this way for a while. Rin's sweet voice singing to me, me singing my own version back to her in my mind. A strange kind of peace had come over me. I no longer felt the throbbing pain in my chest; it was as if it had been healed by Rin's song. I was able to think clearly again, and realise that I would eventually find some way out if I was just patient. I was right.


	15. Chapter 15 Final

One wonderful day, I sat with my legs crossed despite the shackle chains getting in the way, staring up at the peculiar spring. I didn't expect anything to happen, for why should it now after so long? Yet I seemed to notice a flicker. I frowned, were my eyes deceiving me? No... All of a sudden a great shimmering light appeared from the opening of the spring. I think I gasped. It was blinding, I shut my eyes against it, not used to such harsh light after spending so very long trapped in the darkness. Through my eyelids I would see the light had faded and opening them cautiously I saw that the light had shrunk, and was about the same size as my fist. I gazed at it as it slowly floated down from the spring's opening. It was moving closer to me, and my instinct was to catch it...I lifted both of my chained hands above my head, cupping them as if to catch a ball. It fell into my hands, hovering in them. Nervously I lowered my hands, and to my relief the light floated with them. I held it in front of my face. There was something awe inspiring about it. Its very presence gave off a very positive aura. Tiny flecks of light circled the ball of light itself, it seemed to be a source of great power.

I noticed that Rin's singing had stopped..._could this light be...could this be...the message you sent to me?_ The message from the bottle? I muttered the words as if they would be audible. Of course they weren't, yet the light reacted to this as if it had been an audible command.

The light began to grown slowly, and around me I could hear...whispers. Soft whispering.

"It's not that your sins aren't tolerated, though they aren't forgiven" Miku's voice, I was sure that was Miku's voice! Now I could picture her, but she was changing before my eyes, suddenly she was before me, in a new form...she wore futuristic clothes, computerized? She faded away... 

"The word 'water' and the word 'evil'...we will change that into a song..." Water? Could that mean our messages in the sea? Evil all of our crimes? Song? It was all so confusing! What did it all mean? Relief, as the red handcuffs fell from my wrists, disappearing in a flash of light before even hitting the floor.

"After this you will be reborn." It was Meiko in her armour! Only...her armour melted, and that too was replaced by futuristic clothing! I didn't manage to get a decent look before her form vanished. Reborn? It was as we'd hoped! Oh could it be true? Was I really getting a second chance at life?

Following the handcuffs as always, the blue shackled shattered as well, also disappearing without a trace, I could move again!

"Today is your new birthday." Now prince Kaito hovered before me, his formal wear changing as well, a thick scarf around his neck...Oh but he was gone as well! Was I going crazy? The room span, making me feel extremely dizzy, I was drowning in confusion! What did it all mean? Was I getting out of here? The room was all of a sudden bright, the walls dyed completely white! It span faster and faster as all of the walls were covered in white! I was shaking, I stared down at my wrists, yet there was no sign that the handcuffs had ever been there, no mark, nothing.

I was running, running through the white space as fast as my legs would carry me! I felt like I was flying, and only stopped when I saw a mirror before me. I cautiously walked towards it. I peered into it, a little frightened to see what I looked like after spending so long here...only it wasn't me staring back, it was Rin! My eyes widened, and so did hers. I lifted a trembling hand, placing it against the cool glass. She mirrored my actions exactly. We stared at one another. Another change of image, Rin was gone and I was staring at my own reflection. I gasped as my outfit dissolved, bright squares running along my body, busily replacing my clothes before my eyes. It finished changing me, and I too was wearing a futuristic outfit. The room span yet again and Rin was back...only she was also clad in an outfit very similar to mine. So we were still twins...still holding a hand to the mirror, I raised my other hand to my throat. I could almost feel my own voice...

"We'll meet again very soon..." I told Rin grinning broadly, my voice! It was back! Now...my hand slipped through the mirror! Rin was holding my hand on the other side; I could actually feel her fingers gripping my hand! Taking one look back at the room I had spent so long in, I bid it farewell, and thank you, before turning back to smile at my sister. Now to begin my new life...I stepped through the mirror into a pool of light where I embraced Rin.

_Today is my new birthday._


End file.
